The Geographer's Library (original 2005; edición 2005)

Closer to a 3.5 but I'm rounding down because I wasn't really wowed. Aims for some Venn diagram wedge between cozy mystery, noir, and The Da Vinci Code and doesn't really hit any of them. Fasman should've just stuck to the "small town reporter investigates bizarre murder" angle and left out the rest of this. ( )

In the Spring of 1154, King Roger II of Sicily, sent his esteemed geographer (and Alchemist) on a trip to map more of the world. The King then proceeded to take over the Geographer's Castle, but before the King could actually arrive a very stupid/arrogant young thief pillaged the Geographer's Library of sixteen very valuable pieces.

The young thief returned home, only to be shunned for his stupidity & the extreme danger he brought onto the family (very highly respected thieves).. He disappeared, trading all but 1 piece of stolen property for safe passage to freedom.... Little did he know his days were numbered.

Through the centuries the 16 pieces scattered and all those who had possession of them eventually mysteriously died....

Current day: a tenured Professor who is not whom he seemed has mysteriously died, the Coroner who was working on the autopsy has been rundown by a car (hit-and-run)..

So begins the investigation of the Professor's secrets by a young alumni & reporter, whose investigation put him & others into mortal danger as well.

Sound GREAT, right? No, boring, boring as hell & the investigative reporter (narrator) is a dud. The book is slow and the characters are dull.

The most interesting thing about the book was the description & history of each of the 16 pieces at the end of each chapter. ( )

I loved the writing and the characters more than the contrivance of the plot or the story itself. I sort of enjoyed the interleaved structure of the story. The imagery related to the characters was very strong. The interior scene setting too was quite good. A mixed bag but I'd read another work of fiction by Fasman in a heartbeat. Because mixed bag or not, it was a goodie bag for sure. ( )

Interesting at first, then became really tedious... ( )

This book seems to be full of promise but ends up being a huge disappointment. When I reached the end I knew little more than I did at the beginning, and the ending itself was pretty terrible. I would recommend that you don't waste your time on this one. I would say that Ian Caldwell's The Rule of Four is much more rewarding. ( )