The Bookbinder's Secret by A.D. Bell is a USA Today bestselling historical mystery set in turn-of-the-century Oxford. When apprentice bookbinder Lily Delaney discovers a hidden confession tucked inside the charred binding of a damaged book, she's pulled into a decades-old tangle of forbidden love, lost fortune, and possible murder. A mystery within a mystery, this atmospheric novel immerses readers in the tactile world of rare books and bookbinding while following a fiercely determined heroine who refuses to stay in her place.
My Review
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC!
3.5 Stars I was really intrigued by the setup of this book. Lilian Delaney, an apprentice bookbinder in Oxford in 1901, stuck between duty to her failing father and a profession that barely makes room for women, stumbles across a burned book hiding fragments of a fifty year old love story tangled up with murder. That discovery pulls her into a trail of rare books, secret letters, and collectors who are far more dangerous than they first appear. The historical detail around bookbinding, restoration, and the obsessive world of collectors is easily the novel’s strongest feature and gave the story a rich sense of place and texture that kept me reading.
The mystery itself, split between Lily’s present day hunt and the tragic romance of the past, is where the book both shines and stumbles. I was far more invested in the earlier love story than in Lily’s own personal arc, even though that storyline leans hard into melodrama and familiar tropes, including an overused pregnancy plot. The pacing also started to drag as the structure repeated itself with each newly discovered book, which made the heaviness and constant loss feel exhausting rather than suspenseful. There is a lot of telling instead of showing, especially in the hidden pages of the mystery, which kept me at an emotional distance from what should have been the most gripping moments.
Where the book lost me most was the romance in Lily’s life. The love triangle between a childhood sweetheart and a fleeting affair never felt earned, mostly because neither man was developed enough to matter. Lily spends more time brooding internally than actually building believable connections, then simply announces her feelings, which made it hard to care about the outcome. Some of the more “liberated” choices she makes also felt out of step with the tone and her established values, particularly around the abortion subplot. The mystery was intriguing enough to carry me to the end, but the resolution left me disappointed.