A complex and suspenseful novel that will keep readers engaged.
In Ghanaian-born author Kwakye’s mystery, a homicide detective comes to suspect that a celebrity journalist’s murder may have been politically motivated.
The entire nation of Ghana is shocked and horrified when the body of beloved journalist, singer, and TV news program host Erin Boadu is discovered on the beach in Teshie, stabbed and burnt beyond recognition. Chloe Cudjoe—a detective in Teshie’s Criminal Investigation Department who’s still haunted by the unsolved murder of her husband, Michael, during their honeymoon many years ago—takes the lead in the investigation. The ambitious and multitalented Erin was seen by many as a national treasure, but, as it turns out, not everyone loved her. Shortly before her murder, she disclosed to her boss that she was working on something that was “making some very important people nervous.” Chloe remembers that Erin had made headlines after publicly questioning former Ghanaian President Yaw Tano about something called Project Dotbug, the specifics of which remain vague; even Erin’s producer, Kofi Adom, only knows that the project involved money laundering. When Chloe interviews Tano, he speaks highly of her, mourns her death, and denies any knowledge of what Project Dotbug is. The night Erin was murdered, he’d been hosting some friends who were in Ghana for an international conference; his alibi checks out, but Chloe can’t shake the feeling that Tano was behind Erin’s murder, and that he didn’t work alone. Kwakye’s whodunit unfolds in two timelines: Chloe’s investigation in the present, and Tano’s personal life and career in the years leading up to it. The novel’s premise is intriguing, and the well-developed characters and the connections they share make it even more compelling. Most notably, throughout the book, Tano struggles to balance his principles and his love of Ghana with unsavory political necessities; this becomes more complicated as his personal and professional relationships merge. Readers will enjoy the story’s twists and its depiction of global politics, as well as the author’s evocative prose: “Chloe stares intently at the charred remains, burned almost to the skeleton. The remaining skin is plastered like a scarecrow's tattered garb.”
A complex and suspenseful novel that will keep readers engaged.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9798988974550
Page Count: 533
Publisher: Cissus World Press
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.
Evildoers plan attacks from America to India, and Jack Ryan Jr. is a prime target.
In Washington state, a man and his family are murdered, and President Jack Ryan learns it is another Poseidon Spear incident. Three retired members of that counterterrorism group have been killed now, and the U.S. government suspects a mole in its midst. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Revolutionary Council believes it has a holy and wholly anti-American mission. Against this backdrop, Jack Ryan Jr., and his fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, visit Delhi, India, to attend the wedding of Srini Rai, the brilliant surgeon who attached Lisanne’s prosthetic left arm. Lisanne had lost her arm in Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon (2020). Jack and Lisanne are both operators working for the Campus, a covert group that executes secret presidential directives. A wedding is a happy occasion, and the engaged American couple intend the trip as a vacation. Jack and Lisanne will attend a sangeet, an elaborate pre-wedding party. But it isn’t long before they survive a suicide bomb attack. As with all Clancy novels, there’s plenty of action on a global scale. In simultaneous strikes, terrorists plan to contaminate America’s Western water supply with radioactive waste from Washington’s Hanford nuclear power plant, blow up a spectacular new bridge in Kashmir, and kill the evil Ryan—or Junior, at least. It will be At-Takwir, the end of days. There is an appealing mix of Indian culture, high-speed action, and the rich lode of details that characterizes the whole series. And in the background lingers the question on several characters’ minds: Have Jack and Lisanne set their own wedding date?
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718032
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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