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POISON

Read this one quickly, before someone spoils the surprise.

DCI Monika Paniatowski catches a case from hell.

The return of Chief Constable George Baxter from compassionate leave is a mixed blessing for Monika. On the one hand, she’s more than happy to see her former lover recovering from the mental distress caused by the death of his wife. On the other, his first official act is to hand her what’s probably the most toxic case of her career. Multimillionaire Jordan Gough, whose holdings include the Whitebridge Evening Telegraph, demands that Baxter assign Monika to find out who’s poisoning him. Monika can’t find any evidence that Gough’s being poisoned. But when she turns her attention to the death of Tom Crawley, a young surveyor found in his apartment with his brains bashed out, she concludes that he has very definitely been murdered, leading Gough to complain to Baxter that the chief inspector isn’t taking him seriously. Monika’s path becomes rockier when Gough dies after eating steak with poisoned pepper sauce. The Telegraph publishes a piece criticizing the police in general and Monika in particular for ignoring a threat that cost a prominent citizen his life. Baxter is frantic for an arrest, and Gough’s brother, Arthur, is a promising suspect, but Monika still has doubts. It takes all her ingenuity and the unstinting support of her three sergeants—Jack Crane, Colin Beresford, and Kate Meadows—to foil a diabolically clever murderer.

Read this one quickly, before someone spoils the surprise.

Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-7278-9095-5

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Severn House

Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021

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THE MAN WHO DIED SEVEN TIMES

A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.

A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.

Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”

A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.

Pub Date: July 29, 2025

ISBN: 9781805335436

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo

Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025

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THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

From the Thursday Murder Club series , Vol. 1

A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.

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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

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