Allen perfectly captures the serene enchantment of Santa Fe. Her gutsy heroine has plenty to work with in a mystery that...
A New York socialite must do everything in her power to save her cousin from a murder charge.
Maddie Vaughn-Alwin and her cousin Gwen grew up together, both members of the socially prominent Astor family, neither inclined to follow society’s strict rules. The year 1922 finds Maddie, a talented artist, living in Santa Fe, where she’s recovering from the death of her husband with the help of her new love, Englishman Dr. David Cole. At an opening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Maddie’s surprised to see her childhood neighbor Will Royle and even more surprised to see Gwen, who suddenly appears frail and proclaims that she’s in trouble. Gwen has a part in a cowboy picture directed by the infamous Luther Bishop and starring his stunning wife, Bridget, and she admits to Maddie that she had a brief affair with Bishop, whose promises of marriage and fame came to nothing. Because Gwen and Royle, who’s working on the screenplay, are so heavily invested in the project, Maddie is drawn into the strange and exciting life of the moviemakers, whom she finds both fascinating and distasteful. While on the set, she discovers the body of Bishop dangling from the rafters, apparently hanged. The scene is certainly shocking, but something about it also strikes her as false. Inspector Sadler, with whom Maddie’s crossed swords before (Santa Fe Mourning, 2018), soon realizes that his suspects include nearly everyone connected to the movie, since Bishop antagonized and bullied everyone. Sadler arrests Gwen, but both Maddie and Cole know that no woman could have done the deed alone; the killer must be either a man or a man and woman working together. Whoever it is doesn’t like Maddie’s sleuthing and sends her threatening messages, but Maddie won’t give up as long as Gwen’s in jail.
Allen perfectly captures the serene enchantment of Santa Fe. Her gutsy heroine has plenty to work with in a mystery that keeps you guessing to the end.Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68331-881-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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