Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




30 New Mysteries & Thrillers


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Cover art for AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD
FICTION
Released: Aug. 14, 2012

"Like Mary Cassatt, Lippman studies families with a different eye than her male contemporaries, showing the heartbreaking complexity of life with those you love."
Lippman (The Most Dangerous Thing, 2011, etc.), who specializes in tales of feckless parents and their luckless kids, puts a madam at the center of her latest dysfunctional family. Read full book review >
Cover art for LAST TO DIE
FICTION
Released: Aug. 28, 2012

"Purplish prose and a wildly baroque ending won't deter a devoted fan base."
Three children survive wholesale homicide, and Rizzoli and Isles (Silent Girl, 2011, etc.) have to find out how. Read full book review >
Cover art for MURDER IN MIND
FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012

"Ellie's 12th is right on the money, with the heroine giving as good as she gets in her tangles with the boneheaded local constabulary."
Ellie Quicke (Murder My Neighbor, 2011, etc.) takes a break from redecorating to help the family of her daughter's fiance escape death. Read full book review >
Cover art for HARDCASTLE'S FRUSTRATION
FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012

"A middling procedural that's also a pleasingly efficient tour of 1918 London."
As the Great War rages on, a corpse dumped in the Thames ends up in the bailiwick of Divisional DI Ernest Hardcastle and his colleagues at the Cannon Row station. Read full book review >
Cover art for WHERE IS THE BABY?
FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012

"Inspired by real events, Vale-Allen (Parting Gifts, 2001, etc.) invents a compelling back story for her characters that makes for a real page turner."
Does the dark past of three characters justify their present actions? Read full book review >
Cover art for DEATH OF A NEIGHBORHOOD WITCH
FICTION
Released: Sept. 1, 2012

"Levine's latest finds her at her witty and wacky best."
If good fences made good neighbors, ad writer Jaine Austen (Pampered to Death, 2011, etc.) would need the Berlin Wall to cope with the nutty crew that surrounds her South Beverly Hills rental. Read full book review >
Cover art for IN THE SHADOWS OF PARIS
FICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2012

"Psudonymous Izner's fifth Legris whodunit (The Assassin in the Marais, 2011, etc.) bubbles charmingly along courtesy of lively banter and larger-than-life Parisian characters."
The murder of a friend propels a Parisian bookseller once more out of his store and into the streets to investigate. Read full book review >
Cover art for TO CATCH A VAMPIRE
FICTION
Released: Sept. 8, 2012

"The second in Harlow's F.R.E.A.K.S. series (Mind Over Monsters, 2011) reads like an homage to Harris' tales of Sookie Stackhouse, though Bea seems to take herself a little less seriously."
Posing as a couple has two special agents all confused, since the most complicated thing they are used to dealing with is their supernatural gifts. Read full book review >
Cover art for SONORA CROSSING
FICTION
Released: Sept. 8, 2012

"Although Del is a powerful and competent woman, the constant descriptions of her physicality by male characters shadows this Western-meets–mystical mystery."
Will reaching over the Mexican border to recover a possibly visionary child bring answers to emotionally damaged female investigator Del Shannon (Nazareth Child, 2011)? Read full book review >
Cover art for HIDE & SNOOP
FICTION
Released: Sept. 8, 2012

"Despite Jaffarian's flirtations with vampires and ghosts, her original series is still her best. Odelia takes no nonsense from anyone and stops at nothing to give the bad guys what they deserve."
Paralegal Odelia Grey (Twice as Dead, 2011, etc.) lands in hot water when her shaky law firm merges with another struggling firm. Read full book review >
Cover art for A FISTFUL OF COLLARS
FICTION
Released: Sept. 11, 2012

"Chet, who continues as narrator in this exciting fifth installment of the series (The Dog Who Knew Too Much, 2011, etc.), often struggles to understand what the humans are up to but always gets it right in the end."
The Little Detective Agency can't afford to turn down a case, because financial problems continue to dog them. Read full book review >
Cover art for ROBERT B. PARKER'S FOOL ME TWICE
FICTION
Released: Sept. 11, 2012

"Though one of the three cases shows Jesse at his most annoyingly sensitive, the other two both reveal welcome and unexpected complications. Not bad for Brandman, who's only on his second installment of the Paradise franchise (Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues, 2011)."
Autumn brings a major new headache for Jesse Stone, police chief of that summer hot spot, Paradise, Mass., along with two supporting headaches. Read full book review >
Cover art for DEAD ANYWAY
FICTION
Released: Sept. 15, 2012

"An absorbing update of the classic film, D.O.A., that finds its author so completely in the zone that not a word is wasted, and the story seems to unfold itself without human assistance."
Nothing in Knopf's reflective, quietly loopy Hamptons mysteries starring Sam Acquillo and Jackie Swaitkowski (Ice Cap, 2012, etc.) will have prepared his fans for this taut, streamlined tale of a man investigating his own murder. Read full book review >
Cover art for OUTRAGE
FICTION
Released: Sept. 18, 2012

"Another deftly modulated murder puzzle from Indridason (Hypothermia, 2010, etc.), with terrific character portraits, many twists and a satisfying "aha!" moment. "
Who could have killed the mercurial young man with no enemies...and no friends? Read full book review >
Cover art for THE CHOCOLATE MOOSE MOTIVE
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012

"The latest in Carl's long string of chocoholic mysteries (The Chocolate Cupid Killings, 2009, etc.), complete with chocolate trivia and a recipe, keeps you guessing all the way to the end."
A chance encounter in a supermarket involves a member of a Michigan chocolate-making family in murder. Read full book review >
Cover art for DARKNESS RISING
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012

The demonic evil that first became apparent in St. Adrian's Academy for Boys spreads further in this sequel to Waking Hours (2011). Read full book review >
Cover art for ROGUE
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012

Hide the good china: Sullivan (Triple Cross, 2009, etc.) launches a new series with even more helter-skelter action than his stratospheric average. Read full book review >
Cover art for PIERCED
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012

"Even so, this dark and resourceful tale is a distinct improvement on Enger's murky debut (Burned, 2011)."
Norway's 123news reporter Henning Juul's continued search for the man he's convinced set the fire that killed his son, Jonas, two years ago entangles him in a web of more recent crimes. Read full book review >
Cover art for POSTCARDS FROM THE DEAD
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012

"Carmela's eighth (Skelton Letters, 2011, etc.) delves deeply into the Big Easy's food, culture and fashion scene. The mystery is upstaged by the appended recipes and scrapbooking tips."
The death of a television reporter provides the newest case for a scrapbooking amateur sleuth. Read full book review >
Cover art for WHEN JOHNNY CAME MARCHING HOME
FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012

"Heffernan (The Dead Detective, 2010, etc.) swings his vivid tale back and forth between past and present, war and peace--a neat tour de force he pulls off with admirable assurance."
When Johnny comes marching home from the Civil War, someone murders him. Read full book review >