The Bookbinder's Secret

A Novel

By: A. D. Bell

Narrated by: Olivia Vinall

Every book tells a story. This one tells a secret.

A young bookbinder begins a hunt for the truth when a confession hidden beneath the binding of a burned book reveals a story of forbidden love, lost fortune, and murder.

Lilian ("Lily") Delaney, apprentice to a master bookbinder in Oxford in 1901, chafes at the confines of her life. She is trapped between the oppressiveness of her father’s failing bookshop and still being an apprentice in a man’s profession. But when she’s given a burned book during a visit to a collector, she finds, hidden beneath the binding, a fifty-year-old letter speaking of love, fortune, and murder.

Lily is pulled into the mystery of the young lovers, a story of forbidden love, and discovers there are more books and more hidden pages telling their story. Lilian becomes obsessed with the story but she is not the only one looking for the remaining books and what began as a diverting intrigue quickly becomes a very dangerous pursuit.

Lily's search leads her from the eccentric booksellers of London to the private libraries of unscrupulous collectors and the dusty archives of society papers, deep into the heart of the mystery. But with sinister forces closing in, willing to do anything for the books, Lilian’s world begins to fall apart and she must decide if uncovering the truth is worth the risk to her own life.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press

Critic reviews

"What a gem! The Bookbinder's Secret is a novel for any reader who has experienced the life-changing power of stories. A.D. Bell has crafted a spellbinding tale within a tale—a mystery within a mystery, in fact—in which romance, crime, and obsession each play a crucial role as apprentice bookbinder Lily Delaney races to unravel the historical secret at the book's core." —Marie Benedict, bestselling author of The Queens of Crime

"You’ll want to read The Bookbinder's Secret one sitting; every chapter stirs up new intrigue, sending Lillian – a book lover with a past—looking for trouble in delightfully unlikely places: bookstores, the libraries of collectors, and the workshops of bookbinders where secrets are tucked away under end papers and false covers. This is a novel so vivid, so spirited, and full of twists and a little romance, that you fall under its spell in its first pages." —Timothy Schaffert, bestselling author of The Titanic Survivors Bookclub

"A deliciously twisty and vibrantly plotted historical mystery set in the world of rare books in turn-of-the-century England, The Bookbinder's Secret is a must for booklovers everywhere." —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names and The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

"For all who cherish the magic of books, reading The Bookbinder’s Secret is like falling into another world, one made of vintage books and secret libraries, of cobblestone streets and richly told tales in secret rooms. The novel is as immersive as the scent of old paper and bound leather in an antique bookstore. Sewn together with the threads of mystery, romance, and a fiercely determined woman, The Bookbinder’s Secret is impossible to put down.” —Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times Bestselling author of The Secret Book of Flora Lea

"Atmospheric and propulsive, The Book Binder's Secret chronicles a passion for books and the cost of obsession. Lilian Delany learns that love and loss are bound as tightly as the pages of a novel while she tries to solve a mystery (and possibly murder) with clues hidden inside a rare book. Perfect for fans of Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale." —Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times and International Bestselling Author of The Paris Library and Miss Morgan's Book Brigade

"Superlative...Bell expertly ratchets up the unsettling suspense as her captivating protagonist slowly assembles the clues she needs to solve a 50-year-old tale of love and murder...a scrumptious literary treat." —Library Journal (starred review)

"Stellar...Bell exhibits a superior gift for crafting an engrossing puzzle and a complex, sympathetic protagonist." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)