The Delegates’ Choice (The Mobile Library‪)‬

Israel Armstrong, one of literature’s most unlikely detectives, returns for more crime solving adventure in this hilarious third novel from the Mobile Library series.

Israel has been invited to attend the Mobile Meet in London, the annual mobile library convention, with his irascible companion Ted Carson. Back in the UK, Israel is reunited with his family, and there is much eating of paprika chicken, baklava and the drinking of good coffee. But within only twenty-four hours of their arrival, the mobile library has been nicked.

Who on earth would want to steal a thirty-year old rust-bucket of a van, and who can the two men turn to for assistance? Can Mr and Mrs Krimholz, the parents of Israel's childhood rival Adam Krimholz, help them out? Amidst all this mayhem, will Israel and Ted, one of literature's oddest oddball couples, ever make it to the Mobile Meet? In this, his most puzzling, personal and problematic case yet, Israel has never had it so bad… neither has his library.

Reviews

Praise for ‘The Case of the Missing Books’:

‘A mystery, a sustained piece of slapstick, a meditation and a yarn. And it is cripplingly funny.’ Independent

‘Sansom has struck a rich comic seam…it promises to be a very enjoyable series.’ Observer

‘A perfect antidote for melancholy.’ Guardian

Praise for ‘Mr Dixon Disappears’:

'Israel is one of the most original and amusing amateur sleuths around.’ The Times

'Bibliophiles will instinctively warm to Israel Armstrong, Jewish librarian, duffel-coat wearer and part-time detective. The fact that he drives his mobile library around the coast of Northern Ireland, moaning non-stop about people who do not return books on time, only makes the character more deliciously esoteric. This yarn about an ageing magician who has gone missing with £100,000 is the second in what promises to be a must-read series.' Sunday Telegraph

About the author

Ian Sansom writes for the Guardian and the London Review of Books. His first book, ‘The Truth About Babies’, was published by Granta in 2002, and his second, ‘Ring Road’, by Fourth Estate in 2004. ‘The Case of the Missing Books’ and ‘Mr Dixon Disappears’, the first two instalments of The Mobile Library series, were published in 2006. He lives in Northern Ireland.