Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

happened. I’d tried to make light of it, but the jokes were losing steam. The fact was, I had an alarming tendency to find dead people, followed by an ineffable need to see that justice prevailed on their behalf. Invariably, I would end up in a face-to-face confrontation with the dead person’s killer.
    It had gotten so bad that I’d finally sought spiritual guidance from Guru Bob, otherwise known as Avatar Robson Benedict, the leader of my parents’ commune and an all-around remarkable guy.
    Guru Bob had suggested that the universe might have cast me in the role of nemesis for the dead. Seriously.
    I still wasn’t sure what I thought about that.
    But it had been eight long weeks since I’d had any run-ins with dead people or the killers who made them that way, so I was hoping all that was behind me.
    Vinnie stared up in horror. “For the love of Shiva, there are books on the ceiling.” She glared at Suzie. “This is beyond peculiar. How can we be sure that Brooklyn won’t be smothered in her sleep? You must do something, Suzie.”
    “I’m fine,” I said with a casual air. “It’s just a bunch of books up there.”
    But Vinnie was starting to freak me out. Grace had indeed managed to hang bookshelves from the ceiling. They were unique and beautiful, really. The shelving fanned out from the central chandelier like the petals of a flower. Although you couldn’t really call it shelving; these were more like attractively paneled, triangular-shaped boxes that held books. Looking up, you could see that there were books, but you couldn’t read the titles unless you lowered the shelf. Or the petal. Whatever it was.
    The petals were made from different shades of wood and they spanned to the corners of the room in a prettyswirling pattern.
Almost like a spiderweb,
I realized. It was all operated by remote control. While unpacking, I had discovered the small remote-control module and had pushed the power button, thinking I was turning on the television. Instead, the shelving began to move up and down.
    It shocked me, and in my moment of panic I started pushing buttons at random. The shelves moved up and down in no discernible pattern, no rhyme or reason, only movement. I couldn’t get them to stop and was getting a little freaked out. I fancied myself going insane, dashing outside, throwing myself into the lake, and drowning.
    Not that I was overly dramatic or anything.
    After a minute, I figured out the right buttons to push and it all made perfect sense. I took a moment to check that there was nothing but books in the shelves, then resolved to examine them later for cataloging purposes.
    I knew Grace was a computer wizard and an engineering genius, but I was still mystified. I’d never seen anything like it. Why had she chosen to build this odd creation? Was it a whim of the moment? Maybe she’d thrown it together on a spare Saturday, just for giggles.
    On the positive side, the ceiling was at least twelve feet high, so I wasn’t likely to suffer claustrophobia from the thought of all those moving petals enclosing me in their web. And now I was mixing metaphors again. Never a good sign.
    I tried to ignore the shivers that skittered across my shoulders at the thought of being trapped.
    “Okay, that’s pretty freaking weird,” Suzie admitted, staring up at the odd sight. “But you have to admire Grace’s ingenuity.”
    “Ingenuity.” Vinnie rolled her eyes at her partner. “Your aunt is crazier than a bagful of monkeys, but your unconditional love for her is admirable, I suppose.”
    Suzie shoved her hands into her cargo pants pockets.“My unconditional love for you knows no bounds, sugar.”
    “Ohh.” Vinnie slapped her hand over her mouth, overcome with emotion. She flung her arms around Suzie and squeezed. “I love you, too, Suzie. Even if your aunt is a wack-a-doodle.”
    Suzie winked at me over Vinnie’s shoulder and I smiled at the clever way she’d wrapped up that conversation. But their easy affection made me think of Derek again and I was surprised at the depth of my own longing. I missed him more than I ever thought I would and wished he were here with me. But that was impossible. He was on a monthlong security assignment in Europe, where he was posing as the fiancé of some megabucks socialite who’d been receiving death threats.
    I would just have to suck it up for the next few weeks. I was perfectly fine without him. I really was. And I trusted Derek completely so that wasn’t