Erickson (Death by Eggnog, 2017, etc.) kicks off a new series that combines irresistibly cute pets, a tangled plot, and a...
A family dedicated to animal rescue find themselves involved in murder.
On a mission to pick up Stewie, an elderly Pomeranian whose even older owner is heading for an extended care facility, Liz Denton and her son, Ben, spot a van belonging to another rescue group run by Courtney Shaw, who’s not above making a buck by charging high fees for pets. Stewie’s owner, Timothy Fuller, who’d called Liz to find his beloved dog a great home, orders his nurse to take him indoors, leaving Liz and Courtney to negotiate in front of Tim Jr. and his wife, who just want the dog gone. When the nurse suggests that one of them come back later for Stewie, Liz follows Courtney home, leaving Ben to make the acquaintance of Selena Shriver, the bikini-clad neighbor, until she returns. Courtney finally agrees to let Liz take Stewie, but when she returns for him and Ben, she learns that Timothy’s dead and Ben’s been arrested for his murder. Since he’d never met Timothy before, Ben seems an unlikely suspect. But the police have a witness who saw Ben enter the house, and there’s blood on his shirt, which sports his name in large letters. Ignoring her veterinarian husband, Manny, who advises her to trust in the law, Liz starts sleuthing on her own. The rumor that Timothy had a large sum of money hidden away on his property generates more suspects who might have stabbed him for refusing to disclose his hidden stash. Liz’s daughter, Amelia, a college student, has been acting strangely recently, but her secret proves surprisingly helpful in proving Ben innocent.
Erickson (Death by Eggnog, 2017, etc.) kicks off a new series that combines irresistibly cute pets, a tangled plot, and a pretty obvious killer.Pub Date: March 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4967-1992-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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