A diary someone would kill to keep secret... It promises to be the find of the century: documents by famed diarist Samuel Pepys rumored to be in the U.S. — which is where publisher Alex Plumtree and his fiancée, Sarah, are headed for his college reunion. Then bizarre things start happening ... a Royal accident imperils the succession and fiery violence rocks London, mimicking Pepys’s chronicles of seventeenth-century England. Things get even more curious when the archivist who stumbled on the uncatalogued papers vanishes. Then a centuries-old scandal surfaces that could bring down the modern monarchy. Soon Alex begins to suspect that the diaries may not have been penned by Pepys after all — but by someone whose shocking actions may have altered the course of history.... A lively and utterly preposterous storyline tethered only slightly by the most gossamer of characterizations. It's almost impossible to summarize the plot, which involves, among other things, lost pieces of Samuel Pepys' diary, a terrorist bombing in London, the succession to the English throne, Dartmouth College and its rowing team, a marriage, a college reunion, and current members of the British royal family. What yokes these elements together is the narrator, Alex Plumtree, who runs his family's publishing house in London and is returning to Dartmouth (an old college tie on his American mother's side) for his college reunion and, not incidentally, to get married. Sarah, his bride, has a shadowy job that seems to involve equal parts Christiane Amanpour and Lord Peter Wimsey, and she figures mightily in the workings of the byzantine plot. The library and book lore is rather fun, the Pepys connection intriguing, and much of the other stuff (like Alex's perfectly fatuous random thoughts) can be breezed through without harm. GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “As always, absorbing and enlightening.” — Rendezvous Praise for the Booklover’s Series: “Kaewert writes in the style of Dick Francis — part mystery, part thriller, good plotting with characters we come to care for.” — Deadly Pleasures Don’t miss these other Booklover’s Mysteries by Julie Kaewert: Unsigned Unsolicited Unbound Unprintable Untitled Available from Bantam Books y someone would kill to keep secret... It promises to be the find of the century: documents by famed diarist Samuel Pepys rumored to be in the U.S. which is where publisher Alex Plumtree and his fiancée, Sarah, are headed for his college reunion. Then bizarre things start happening ... a Royal accident imperils the succession and fiery violence rocks London, mimicking Pepys s chronicles of seventeenth-century England. Things get even more curious when the archivist who stumbled on the uncatalogued papers vanishes. Then a centuries-old scandal surfaces that could bring down the modern monarchy. Soon Alex begins to suspect that the diaries may not have been penned by Pepys after all but by someone whose shocking actions may have altered the course of history.... A diary someone would kill to keep secret... It promises to be the find of the century: documents by famed diarist Samuel Pepys rumored to be in the U.S. -- which is where publisher Alex Plumtree and his fiancee, Sarah, are headed for his college reunion. Then bizarre things start happening ... a Royal accident imperils the succession and fiery violence rocks London, mimicking Pepys's chronicles of seventeenth-century England. Things get even more curious when the archivist who stumbled on the uncatalogued papers vanishes. Then a centuries-old scandal surfaces that could bring down the modern monarchy. Soon Alex begins to suspect that the diaries may not have been penned by Pepys after all -- but by someone whose shocking actions may have altered the course of history.... Julie Kaewert first indulged her fascination with book publishing by taking the Radcliffe Publishing Procedures Course in 1981. She then worked for book publishers in Boston and London before starting her writing career with a London magazine. Her series of mysteries for booklovers has topped mystery bestseller lists around the country. She is the author of Unprintable , Uncatalogued , Unsigned , Unbound , Unsolicited , and Untitled. Chapter 1 . . . it ravished me . . . that neither then, nor all the evening . . . and at home, I was able to think of any thing, but remained all night transported . . . Samuel Pepys Sarah! Darling. Say it again--all of it. Please." Disbelief warred with joy as I struggled to grasp my fiancee's words, the very words I'd wanted to hear. Rich and exuberant, her laugh reverberated down the line. "I said, my work here is over, Alex. I'm coming home!" A grin spread across my face. I'd read news reports of the power shift in Iraq, where my American fiancee was involved in something frightfully secret for an international task force. But I hadn't dreamed . . . "And the next bit?"