Readers will surely root for this good-natured gumshoe.
The second in Basinski’s (Dead in the Water, 2015, etc.) thriller series finds returning retired cop Lt. Mario Morales cutting his vacation short when he reluctantly joins a murder investigation.
Morales hasn’t even checked into the Bonita Inn on Florida’s Palm Island when he hears about a floating cooler with pieces of a body inside. But he’s there to spend time with Sun Li, hoping their friendship will develop into something more. After several days, the local chief of police (and fellow LAPD officer back in the day), Ed Shipley, asks Morales for help finding whomever shot and killed the victim, Mark Sullivan. Morales says no thanks, but when Sun Li unexpectedly splits, a letter left as explanation, he changes his mind. Ed believes Sullivan may have found gold, an alleged batch the CIA lent to the Cuban government in the ’60s that went missing. That’s not quite as shocking as someone taking a shot at Ed and Morales, though it’s unclear which one was the target. Morales heads to his home base of Little Havana for intel from the CIA and eventually confirms that someone’s definitely trying to kill him. He gradually uncovers a web of deceit surrounding Sullivan, as well as another body, and soon worries that Sun Li didn’t leave—not willingly, at least. Basinski quickly builds sympathy for his protagonist with Morales’ undeniable devotion to Sun Li. The ex-cop is slow to start questioning people, but once he does, the case escalates. He adds a suspect or two, for example, attempting to link Sullivan to the second murder, and with credible evidence, including an insurance policy and blackmail, red herrings aren’t easy to identify. An incriminating clue near the end perhaps too conveniently points to a killer, but that doesn’t make the inevitable confrontation any less intense. Morales’ first-person narrative makes him even more endearing, describing his surroundings not like a meticulous detective but an ordinary guy; a dinner table, for example, reminds him of Sunday meals with his grandma.
Readers will surely root for this good-natured gumshoe.Pub Date: July 22, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5238-6390-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite a provocative and topical premise, and a strong opening, Picoult fails this time, her seventh, to rise above...
An uneven reworking of tabloid headlines: a young woman is charged with infanticide, and a hard-boiled attorney agrees to defend her. With one crucial distinction: the defendant is Amish.
In the Amish community of Paradise, Pennsylvania, 18-year-old Katie Fisher, unwed, is the chief suspect in the death by asphyxiation of a newborn found in the Fisher family’s barn. A medical exam reveals that Katie has just given birth, but she insists she has never been pregnant. Enter Ellie Hathaway, a 39-year-old (and single) Philadelphia defense attorney visiting her aunt Leda. Leda, also Amish, prevails upon an initially reluctant Ellie to defend Katie. Ellie moves in with the Fishers to prepare Katie’s defense, a device that allows Picoult (Keeping Faith, 1999, etc.) to juxtapose the devout Amish (or Plain Folk) and their spartan way of life with city-slicker Ellie. But as Ellie befriends Katie, unsettling inconsistencies in the latter’s story emerge. As in Rashomon, the truth proves elusive, shifting, and often unwelcome. Is Katie suffering from a genuine psychosis, repressing events too traumatic to remember? Or was she simply trying to conceal an affair and pregnancy she knew would have led to her being shunned by her own people? The drama echoes with conflicts in Ellie’s own life: her loudly ticking biological clock, the end of a tepid relationship with another attorney, and the resumption of a love affair with Coop, her college sweetheart-turned-psychologist (and eventual expert witness on Katie’s behalf). All, of course, will be tidily resolved by trial’s end.
Despite a provocative and topical premise, and a strong opening, Picoult fails this time, her seventh, to rise above paint-by-numbers formula. (Author tour)Pub Date: May 9, 2000
ISBN: 0-671-77612-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
A rollicking tale of desire, murder, and mayhem complete with Victorian atmosphere and two bickering leads.
An eccentric pair of late-Victorian detectives delve into a case involving the royal family.
Through many a wild escapade (A Dangerous Collaboration, 2019, etc.), Veronica Speedwell and Stoker Templeton-Vane have danced around their passionate feelings for each other. Just when the highly independent Veronica is about to commit to a full physical relationship—"The truth, dear reader, is that I was as ready for him as any filly ready for the stud"—a new case hurls them into perhaps their most dangerous adventure yet. Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk, a power in royal circles, calls them to a meeting with the Princess of Wales and Inspector Archibond of Scotland Yard. The meeting is fraught, for Veronica is the unacknowledged daughter of the Prince of Wales, who deserted Veronica and her Catholic mother to marry Alexandra of Denmark. Since the Yard is overwhelmed with the hunt for Jack the Ripper, who’s terrorizing London, Archibond asks the sleuthing duo to recover a diamond star that the princess's eldest son, Prince Albert Victor, aka Eddy, has given to Madame Aurore, the owner of a private sex club. At first the sleuths decline, but when Lady Wellie suffers a severe angina attack, some snooping reveals her fear that Prince Eddy is suspected of being the Ripper. With the help of Stoker’s brother, they attend a masked ball at the club whose members indulge in all sorts of sexual depravity. After an exciting and informative evening, they run into Eddy, a dim but likable lad, who’s with them when their attempt to open Aurore’s safe ends with their discovery of her body under her bed. All three are kidnapped by Veronica’s Uncle de Clare, an Irishman who wants to place Veronica on the throne and free Ireland. Now they must escape, return Eddy unharmed to the bosom of his family, and discover who murdered Aurore.
A rollicking tale of desire, murder, and mayhem complete with Victorian atmosphere and two bickering leads.Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-451-49074-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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