In 22 years of bookselling, I find that readers remain endlessly fascinated with an insider look at the book business—precisely what Vincent McCaffrey offers in A Slepyng Hound to Wake (Small Beer Press, July), the sequel to his splendid 2009 yarn, Hound. (The title is a quote from Chaucer.) I'd call them "biblio-noirs" rather than biblio-mysteries: the deeds are dark even though bookhound Henry Sullivan becomes involved in what first seem academic rather than criminal matters. How likely is it that the possible ripping-off (okay, plagiarism) of a bestselling author could lead to murder? Dark, too, is Henry's outlook on his professional world, where centuries of tradition are daily eroded by digital publishing and Internet bookselling. This gloom carries over into his relationships, freighting them in classic noir fashion. Still, Henry is a character cut from Raymond Chandler: a modern knight on a mission to save those, and what, he loves.