by John Dunning (Simon and Schuster, 1995)

It’s good to find a novel that not only provides an entertaining mystery to solve but also gives you some  information you didn’t even know you wanted to know. The Bookman’s Wake sets

Clifford Janeway on a search for a serial killer whose murders occur with no identifiable motive or method and so far apart in the country that they go unlinked until he stumbles upon the connection. In the process, the reader gains an understanding of the world of the rare book collector and the difficulty of identifying first editions.
Janeway has been a cop, but he has turned in his badge to operate his own Denver bookstore that specializes in old books. He is hired to pick up a bail jumper, a young woman currently in Seattle. It’s a simple job and one that should easily net him $5,000. The simple job, however, turns into a life-or-death race, and Janeway has to use every one of his old skills to survive.