The Lions of Fifth Avenue

I'm a sucker for a literary mystery & this one was very well done.

I am a fan of Fiona Davis and she doesn't disappoint in this novel which toggles from 1913 to 1993 and focuses on one particular family and their connection to the main New York Public Library. The chapters alternate between the early superintendent of the library and his young family who lived in an apartment within the library and his granddaughter, Sadie, who becomes a respected curator at the library. Laura, her grandmother, happened upon the Bohemian scene in Greenwich Village and a group of women with what were radical ideas at the time. Rare book thefts start to occur at the library during this time, Laura is being radicalized and the family unit develops fissures. Sadie was told little of her grandparents, just that her grandfather and uncle died prematurely. Sadie's grandmother became a well-known writer, more popular after her death in a WWII bombing in London. Sadie's mother, Pearl, refused to discuss her mother. Meanwhile, Laura is curating an exhibit of rare holdings in the museum, including her grandmother's walking stick. At this time, book thefts start occurring again and Laura becomes a suspect. While I enjoyed the story and the characters, it was disappointing to see Sadie turn into a Nancy Drew type of character who works to clear her name and uncover the mysteries of the thefts of 1913 and 1993. To me, her actions were very unrealistic; however, the story continued to capture me and the ending held a nice surprise (or two).

This was a hard book to finish. Too many lines that elicited eyerolls, too many British expressions from Americans. Too many one dimensional characters and boring sidebars.