Crackling dialogue and well-crafted settings lift Roker’s initial collaboration with veteran Lochte (Croaked!, 2007, etc.)...
NBC’s Today Show weather anchor debuts with a crisp puzzler played out on and off the set of an early-morning news show.
Chef Billy Blessing is well-named. His upscale New York eatery is booked solid, and he has his own show, Blessing’s in the Kitchen, on the Wine and Dine Cable Network, plus a regular spot on Wake Up! America. But his charmed life screeches to a halt when his producer dies after eating a poisoned dinner from Blessing’s Bistro. NYPD’s Detective Solomon, who thinks of coq au vin as chicken with gravy, shuts down Blessing’s joint, letting him know that even though Billy quarreled with Rudy shortly before his demise, and even though Rudy was canoodling with Billy’s old squeeze, TV exec Gretchen Di Voss, Billy isn’t his only suspect—just his main suspect. But Chef Billy isn’t addled by too much sauce béarnaise; he knows that Rudy was in Iraq when a mercenary from Touchstone Security was killed in a Baghdad bar. Cameraman Phil Bruno has some tape of the fight, but before he can pass it to Billy and his Wake Up! costar Gin McCauley, Phil’s Meatpacking District loft goes up in flames. Crude drawings left at the scene point to the work of Felix the Cat, a shadowy assassin who hits targets worldwide. What brings Felix to New York is a secret only Billy’s Sabatier-sharp mind can penetrate.
Crackling dialogue and well-crafted settings lift Roker’s initial collaboration with veteran Lochte (Croaked!, 2007, etc.) above the typical celeb roman-à-clef.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-34368-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2009
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Not as tightly clued as a Christie original, this initial First Edition entry still gives readers what they came for.
A curator of a collection of rare mysteries solves a puzzle of her own.
A degree in 19th-century literature doesn’t open many doors, Hayley Burke discovers, and those that do open seldom lead to treasure troves. So when her stint as assistant to the assistant curator of the Jane Austen Centre in Bath doesn’t quite cover expenses, Hayley thinks herself lucky to be offered the position of curator of The First Edition Society. Founded by the late Lady Georgiana Fowling as a repository for her vast collection of mystery novels, the society hasn’t quite decided whether it’s a library, a social club, or an educational institution. What it clearly is is Hayley's home, since the job offers both Hayley and the society’s secretary, Glynis Woolgar, apartments in Middlebank House, the spacious mansion that houses the late Lady Fowling’s collection. In an effort to expand the society’s profile, Hayley also opens Middlebank House to the weekly meetings of a local writers’ group that specializes in mystery fan fiction. But the morning after a particularly contentious session pitting writers of Agatha Christie vampire mashups against creators of Agatha Christie zombie pastiches, the corpse of Tristram Cummins is discovered in the library. Now Hayley’s job is on the line, as the tabloids move in and the board of directors suddenly finds the society’s profile a little too high. Even worse, Charles Henry Dill, Lady Fowling’s rapacious nephew, discovers that Hayley hasn’t read most of the authors featured in his aunt’s collection. Alarmed, Hayley gets down to work, and only a few novels later, Wingate (Midsummer Mayhem, 2019, etc.) shows her channeling Miss Marple accurately enough to give the police a run for their money in unmasking a killer.
Not as tightly clued as a Christie original, this initial First Edition entry still gives readers what they came for.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0410-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Even when she’s in pantyhose, Hannah’s grit and quick thinking once more save the day.
All of Lake Eden is agog when the police chief’s secretary takes a tumble from the penthouse of a condo complex.
Fabulously wealthy Roger Dalworth has pulled out all the stops for the grand reopening of the Albion Hotel, his new luxury condo project. A caterer from Minneapolis! Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes from The Cookie Jar for dessert! The evening is so grand that The Cookie Jar’s owner, Hannah Swensen (Cinnamon Roll Murder, 2012, etc.), in eye makeup and pantyhose, decides to tour the Albion’s posh penthouse, complete with its outdoor garden. Hannah is luckier than Barbara Donnelly, whose own tour of the penthouse ends in a headfirst plunge to the parking lot. Barbara survives, much addled, leaving amateur sleuth Hannah to decode her ramblings about her brother (Barbara is an only child) and a furry white monster that lurks in her hospital room. Hannah soon has her own worries. She finds Dr. Bev Thorndike, her former rival for local dentist Norman Rhodes’ affections, in her red Maserati at the bottom of Miller’s Pond. Even though Dr. Bev has recently become engaged to Roger, her death puts Hannah very much on Detective Mike Kingston’s radar screen. Can Hannah find the real culprit before Mike ends the discussion of whether he or Norman will be the one to wrestle her to the altar by putting her in the slammer instead?
Even when she’s in pantyhose, Hannah’s grit and quick thinking once more save the day.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7582-8034-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
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