The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (2022 fiction)

Cartography is Dr. Nell Young’s passion. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field. But she has not seen or spoken to him since he fired her and destroyed her reputation seven years ago, seemingly over a cheap gas station highway map. When Daniel Young is found murdered in his office at the New York Public Library, Nell finds the same map hidden in his desk and can’t resist investigating.
To her surprise, the map appears to be extremely valuable, and she may have the only copy left in existence. But a mysterious collector is looking for it and will stop at nothing to take it from her. At this point, this seems like a fairly normal mystery, set in the fascinating worlds of cartography and the NYPL. It’s not. In the process of trying to discover the map’s importance, Nell unlocks a family secret and an adventure that puts her and everyone around her in danger.

This book is full of magical twists and turns that are fascinating and completely unexpected, where the worlds of ancient and modern cartography collide. I could not put it down!

Reviewed by Ginger Russell