When the director of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections of a Toronto university, Christopher Wolfe, suffers a severe stroke, his assistant, Liesl Weiss, is asked to return from sabbatical and take over the reins. Liesl’s first job is to arrange insurance coverage for the department’s latest acquisition, the Plantin Polyglot Bible. The task should be a simple one–but the library safe holding the rare Bible won’t open. Her boss Christopher, in his usual fashion, didn’t follow protocol and failed to record the new combination. When Liesl finally opens it, the safe is empty.

Searching the stacks for the missing rare Bible worth $500,000 uncovers more books either stolen or misplaced. Christopher has run the department since 1969, and 40 years later it shows. Memos and notes are written on tiny pieces of paper. Computers and technology seem to have been ignored. Liesl, for example, doesn’t know what carbon dating a manuscript entails.

Liesl’s general ambivalence toward finding the missing book and callous behavior toward Miriam, a mentally ill colleague, unfortunately, makes her a difficult character to like. When Miriam goes missing, she’s branded a book thief without any evidence.

The author, Eva Jurczyk, does a fine job portraying how universities have to juggle academia with the need for constant fundraising and many of the rare book details are fascinating. The search for the missing books, not so much.