The Bad Book Affair
By (Author) Ian Sansom
HarperCollins Publishers
Fourth Estate Ltd
13th May 2010
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.92
Paperback
240
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 22mm
260g
The Bad Book Affair features the magnificently hapless Israel Armstrong the duffle-coat wearing, navel-gazing Jewish librarian who solves crimes, mysteries, and domestic problems whilst driving a mobile library around the north coast of Ireland.
In The Bad Book Affair Israel finds himself on the verge of his thirtieth birthday and on the trail of a troubled missing teenager, the daughter of a local politician.
Why has the young woman disappeared Does it have something to do with Israels lending her A Clockwork Orange and Lady Chatterlys Lover from the librarys special Unshelved category Will the young womans father run Israel out of town How will Israel recover from his own break-up with his girlfriend, Gloria And how exactly does a Jewish vegetarian celebrate his thirtieth birthday in Tumdrum With a bacon scone
And will Israel and his irascible companion Ted ever agree about anything
Praise for The Delegates Choice:
'This is Israels third outing and it is a pleasure to welcome him back these are blissful British comedies for the thinking escapist. Kate Saunders, The Times
Praise for the Case of the Missing Books:
A mystery, a sustained piece of slapstick, a meditation and a yarn. And it is cripplingly funny. Independent
Sansom has struck a rich comic seam it promises to be a very enjoyable series. Observer
A perfect antidote for melancholy. Guardian
Praise for Mr Dixon Disappears:
'Israel is one of the most original and amusing amateur sleuths around The Times
'Bibliophiles will instinctively warm to Israel Armstrong, Jewish librarian, duffel-coat wearer and part-time detective. The fact that he drives his mobile library around the coast of Northern Ireland, moaning non-stop about people who do not return books on time, only makes the character more deliciously esoteric. This yarn about an ageing magician who has gone missing with 100,000 is the second in what promises to be a must-read series.' Sunday Telegraph
Ian Sansom reviews regularly for the Guardian and the London Review of Books. His first book, The Truth About Babies, was published by Granta in 2002.