A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.
In Dalrymple’s second thriller featuring Ann Kinnear, the appealing spirit sensor fears she may be haunted by the ghost of a killer.
Ann’s been unhappy since surviving an encounter with a murderer; she killed Biden Firth in self-defense but also lost her beloved dog Beau. And though she can sense Beau’s spirit, he seems to have moved on. When sudden hand cramps lead to injuries, Ann believes Firth’s ghost is the source and calls fellow sensor/consultant Garrick Masser. Garrick, in turn, offers an exchange of services: he’ll help get rid of Firth if Ann can locate “the lady,” a mysterious something that Garrick’s client, Ellen Lynam, wants. Ellen’s late brother, Loring, isn’t cooperating with Garrick (they weren’t on friendly terms when Loring was alive), but the ghost may respond more favorably to the reddish-blonde Ann. Ann, meanwhile, can only hope that Firth doesn’t compound his assaults on her. Dalrymple (The Sense of Death, 2013) has crafted an understated mystery; it seems like a simple case for Ann, but numerous conundrums emerge during the investigation. It isn’t initially apparent, for example, what exactly the lady is, or why Ellen thinks the lady can save her family’s hotel. There’s unquestionably a constant threat for Ann; she can’t even drive because a hand cramp could cause an accident, and she has to rely on brother Mike’s boyfriend, Scott, as her chauffeur. But Dalrymple’s story is at its best in its jovial, humorous scenes. For example, Ann’s go-to pseudonym is Kay Near, clearly inspired by her surname. Likewise, a surprise run-in with Ellen leads Ann to pretend Scott is her fiance, a role that he plays with unmistakable relish. Even Dalrymple’s prose isn’t resistant to cheeky descriptions, referring to Garrick as an “emaciated vulture,” while Ann, aiming to drive without Scott’s knowledge, spots his hanging pants and pats “the pockets of the pant guiltily.” The ending offers a thorough resolution but not before hitting a few genuinely surprising plot twists.
A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9862675-1-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: William Kingsfield Publishers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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