by Fiona Davis.

The lyin’ Lyons of the New York Public Library with its signature lions. Jack & Laura Lyons live in apartments deep within the landmark structure. He is the superintendent so the family lives in quarters off the mezzanine. The Library is only used for reference visits and its rare books collections are even harder to get into for research. A maze of secrets and history go from 1913 to 1993, with mysteries and tragedies surrounding thefts of its most hallowed treasures in each period. Family ties and revelations.

All of it was a light fun unraveling of the plot around who stole the books and if they were connected. That was fine. The annoying part is the contrived feminist preachy inevitable love affair that made no sense. Also. Today’s tropes were pasted on times past as unnecessary and implausible anachronisms. Mixed bag. Not great.