Reviewed by Stephen B for Readers' Favorite

Before John Corey began a danger-filled career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he was a New York City homicide detective. Nelson DeMille relates a short story about a bookseller’s corpse in the appropriately named Dead End Book Store. Almost immediately, Corey determines that the murder weapon, a thousand pound bookcase, could not have accidentally fallen on the store’s owner. So, who did it? Was it the meek assistant with dreams of being an author? Was it the wife who is unhappy in the marriage? Possibly the killer was an author on the downhill slide in his career who was scheduled to host a book signing. Or could it be a combination of all three? Corey must unravel the clues and tell a few lies in order for the truth to be revealed.

I enjoyed Corey’s wry humor and logical thinking. DeMille could easily publish a collection of Corey shorts. I would be interested in reading more about Corey’s time in the NYPD. This tale gives a little taste of his personality and how he conducts murder investigations. Much of this is reflected in later books. The entire story takes place in the bookstore so you don’t get a lot of the New York flavor, but that is okay. I also enjoyed how DeMille throws in tidbits about writing and publishing, including references to himself at one point. Too sly. Currently this is only an audio download and the narrator does a fine job of giving life to the characters. Each character, though typical of whodunit mysteries, is very well-defined. I could very easily read more of Corey.