Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




Best Fiction of 2012: Mysteries (page 2)


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Cover art for FALLEN ANGELS
FICTION
Released: April 1, 2012

"A veteran cop herself, Dial (The Broken Blue Line, 2010, etc.) does authenticity to the max, and readers will like that. But it's tough, vulnerable, never-say-die Josie that they'll love. "
She's a wife, a mom, an LAPD captain and compelling no matter what she does. Read full book review >
Cover art for A WOMAN OF CONSEQUENCE
FICTION
Released: April 10, 2012

"The third in Dean's series is another delight, complete with perfect regency prose and an excellent mystery."
A clever Regency sleuth is much like Jane Austen with her ability to see that the mundane things of life are more important than they seem. Read full book review >
Cover art for KINGS OF MIDNIGHT
FICTION
Released: April 10, 2012

"Once again Stroby demonstrates how adept he is at making readers empathize with the essentially unworthy."
Chasing her retirement number, superthief Crissa Stone (Cold Shot to the Heart, 2011, etc.) fills bunches of money bags. And body bags. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE SOLITARY HOUSE
FICTION
Released: May 1, 2012

"Shepherd offers an intricate plot and a thousand details of the least-admirable side of Victorian life. A must-read."
Shepherd's latest detective story (Murder at Mansfield Park, 2010) is a Victorian tour de force that borrows characters from Charles Dickens' Bleak House and Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. Read full book review >
Cover art for HELL OR HIGH WATER
FICTION
Released: July 17, 2012

"Castro's first mystery is fierce and intense, with both harrowing depictions of New Orleans after Katrina and psychological mayhem for its troubled heroine, who crawls under your skin and lingers there long after you've finished reading. A sequel is in the works."
Salvaging lives in post-Katrina New Orleans is no picnic. Read full book review >
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 >