Gideon’s finest case in years proves that “Professor Oliver finds happiness in baffling the mind of the simple hardworking...
Forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver travels to Mexico in the latest from Elkins (Uneasy Relations, 2008, etc.).
While her relatives are off having surgery and getting divorced, the Skeleton Detective’s wife Julie has been asked to fill in at Hacienda Encantada, the family resort in sleepy Teotitlán del Valle in Mexico. There’s nothing much for Gideon to do until rising politico Flaviano Sandoval, who’s reluctantly serving as police chief while awaiting his turn at higher office, invites him to examine the mummified remains of an unsavory drifter who called himself Manuel Garcia, and then the bones of a long-dead little girl who’s never been identified. Naturally, Gideon’s theory about what happened to a missing .32 slug in the drifter’s corpse turns the verdict of the local medico legiste on its head. Meanwhile, Julie’s made some surprising and unwelcome discoveries about Blaze Tendler, the mother of Julie’s cousin Annie. Although everyone knows that Blaze ran off years ago with her lover Manolo, who paused only long enough to relieve Blaze’s brother Jamie of $16,000 at the point of a gun, everyone turns out to be wrong. It’s only a matter of time before Gideon’s present-day corpse gets entangled in the branches of Julie’s family tree. But Gideon wears his customary learning so lightly that the forensics that establish that link are fascinating, and the mystery surrounding Hacienda Encantada grows more riveting with each new twist.
Gideon’s finest case in years proves that “Professor Oliver finds happiness in baffling the mind of the simple hardworking policeman”—and everyone else.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-425-22797-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2009
Chilling.
A glaciologist seeks refuge in Antarctica.
A nearly two-year stint at the British Antarctic Survey’s base on South Georgia Island, halfway between the Antarctic mainland and the Falklands, seems like the perfect job for Cambridge graduate Felicity Lloyd. The landscape is breathtaking, the wildlife like no other in the world, and ever changing glaciers provide vital opportunities to investigate the effects of climate change on humankind’s future. But Felicity has another secret reason for choosing to pursue her professional passion in what may be the most remote place on Earth. She hopes that Freddie, who’s stalked her nearly her whole adult life, will never find her there. The trouble is, she can’t remember much about Freddie or the reason for his obsession with her; her memories are jumbled and distorted, with chunks of time missing from her consciousness the size of the icebergs she studies. Dr. Joe Grant, the psychologist she sees in Cambridge, tries to help her recover her lost moments, but just when he seems to be getting close, Felicity shuts him down, preferring to work out her problems alone in the frigid south. Leaving Felicity to handle her issues on her own, however, may no longer be an option for Joe once his mother, DI Delilah Jones, begins to connect the deaths of some of Cambridge’s homeless to Felicity’s blackouts. Bolton (The Craftsman, 2018, etc.) provides her readers with shivers worthy of her setting, although true aficionados of the psychological thriller may find the secret of Felicity’s illness a bit too easy to recognize.
Chilling.Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-30005-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Despite its caloric restrictions, Fluke’s 11th cozy is a tasty treat.
A new fitness regimen allows Hannah Swensen (Carrot Cake Murder, 2008, etc.) to exercise her ingenuity along with her abs when she finds a dead body in the local health club’s Jacuzzi.
Hannah isn’t used to having her suitor, Detective Mike Kingston, give her amateur investigations his blessings. But then, she’s not used to having to eat skinless chicken breasts night after night instead of feasting on the treats she and Lisa Beeseman serve up daily at The Cookie Jar. So even though her diet and exercise plan—undertaken in a last-ditch attempt to fit into the Regency dress she ordered for her mother’s book launch—is a drag, her newfound freedom to probe the death of fitness instructor Ronni Ward is a treat, not in the least because Ronni’s demise puts paid to her shameless flirting with every man in sight. Not only Mike, but Hannah’s sister Andrea’s county-cop husband Bill and Lisa’s local-cop husband Herb are barred from the official investigation because they were just too close to the victim. In fact, Norman Rhodes, Hannah’s second-string beau, may be the only man in Lake Eden Ronni hadn’t tried to bed. His immunity to Ronni’s charms, along with his own charming modesty, raises his stock in Hannah’s eyes, and before long the two of them are whipping up Bonnie Brownie Cookie Bars in his custom-designed kitchen while watching security tapes to see who might have taken Ronni for her final swim.
Despite its caloric restrictions, Fluke’s 11th cozy is a tasty treat.Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7582-1022-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2009
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