When the bell went off, I was dreaming about Jackie Newton and our final showdown. He was my enemy and I thought that someday I would probably have to kill him.

A guy named Jackie Newton was haunting my dreams. I had just finished a thirteen-hour shift, my fourth day running of heavy overtime, and I hadn’t been sleeping well until tonight. Normally I am a light sleeper, but that night I was down among the dead. It is “a standout piece of crime fiction…Compelling page-turning stuff” ( The Philadelphia Inquirer). “One of the most enjoyable books I’ve read” ( The Denver Post), Booked to Die is the first in the Cliff Janeway series. Now Janeway’s life is about to change in profound and shocking ways as he attempts to find out who’s dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains. When prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a small bookshop-all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding the law, and Janeway’s wrathful brand of off-duty justice costs him his badge.

When Bobby is murdered, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect’s spine. Bobby Westfall is a local bookscout, a gentle and quiet man who has sold enough valuable books to keep himself and his cats fed and housed. Booked to Die, the first book in John Dunning’s bestselling, award-winning Cliff Janeway series, is “a joy to read for its wealth of inside knowledge about the antiquarian book business and its eccentric traders” ( The New York Times Book Review).ĭenver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he’s an avid collector of rare and first editions.

Booked to Die by John Dunning