by Olivia Blacke ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2024
A well-paced probe into a messy death highlights the rewards of joining ingenuity with persistence.
Three sisters try to keep their record store/coffee shop afloat before and after murder intervenes.
Juniper Jessup left a lucrative job in Oregon to help her sisters, Tansy and Maggie, run their late parents’ shop in Cedar River, Texas. Propelled by the rush of interest in vinyl among young music lovers and a taste for fresh java shared by Texans of all ages, Sip & Spin Records has started to break even. Before the Jessup sisters can even begin to squabble over the store’s still-unrealized profits, venture capitalists Zackary Fjord and Savannah Goodwin swoop down with a proposal to become silent partners. Zack leans toward high-priced inducements, like box seats to a professional hockey game. Savannah is low-key, wooing the sisters with visions of the ways Fjord Capital’s infusion of cash could help their business grow. Zack’s high-pressure campaign grinds to a halt when he’s killed by a brick that comes through his car window during a torrential rainstorm. Police detective Beau Russell, Juni’s wannabe boyfriend, isn’t convinced that Zack’s death is murder, but Savannah is, and she begs Juni to help find her partner’s killer. In a novel twist on the universally-hated-victim formula, Savannah introduces Juni to shop owners whose businesses are thriving because of Fjord’s help in addition to others who genuinely hated Zack’s guts. The more she investigates, the more Juni realizes that like business and life, murder is complicated. The investigation takes patience and finesse, but ultimately, amateur detection triumphs.
A well-paced probe into a messy death highlights the rewards of joining ingenuity with persistence.Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9781250860125
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
More by Olivia Blacke
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Janet Evanovich ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2024
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
by David Baldacci ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 2024
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.