A hearty novel layering grief and humor in a flavorful Chicago-style slice.
Peele’s comedic mystery follows a Chicago widow dealing with loss and under-the-table intrigue.
At the funeral of Vinnie Sortino, a beloved Cubs fan and longtime Chicago city employee, his widow, Angie, discovers that his death has left behind as many questions as fond memories. Forced to spread the casket payment across three credit cards (two of which are declined), Angie realizes Vinnie has left her nearly broke. The debts deepen as the mourners arrive, each with a hidden agenda, including Vinnie’s sharp-tongued sister and her mangy dog, a flirtatious colleague named Ralph Conti, and Cookie Guggleman, a sultry HR officer from City Hall who hints that Vinnie’s pension might be stolen out from under Angie. When Ralph learns that mob-connected loan sharks are demanding repayment for Vinnie’s Cubs bets, he vows to protect Angie, even as his affair with an alderman’s glamorous wife, Rebecca, threatens to drag him into the same corrupt orbit. Angie’s efforts to rebuild lead her to take a job cleaning City Hall by day and move in with her niece, Gina, to launch a morbidly funny catering business called Last Bite, which pulls her deeper into a web of civic secrets that may extend to the mayor’s office. Amid crooked officials, crazed Cubs fandom, and tangled loyalties, Angie struggles to reinvent herself. Peele writes with warmth and sharp comic timing. The funeral-set opening strikes a deft balance between sincerity and humor, which is carried throughout the novel via sharp, funny lines (Gina quips about her roommate’s weed habit, “Some people have Glade air freshener; we have eau de marijuana”). In tone and spirit, the novel recalls Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (1987) with its bittersweet mix of mystery and humor. The catering subplot drags a little compared to the novel’s more exciting threads, but Peele consistently draws readers into a fun and familiar Chicago (full of Cubs chatter and crooked City Hall corridors) without slipping into cliché, thanks to her vibrant character work—Angie’s determination to change her life will undoubtedly win readers over.
A hearty novel layering grief and humor in a flavorful Chicago-style slice.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9798896360841
Page Count: 256
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.
A single mom winds up fake dating an incredibly wealthy man in her hometown.
Dolly Brick is back in her hometown of Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to help her dad and disabled brother manage their house and family business. As a 39-year-old single mother with multiple jobs—which now include working at the Brick Fish House—Dolly is always busy. When her mom left their family years ago, Dolly took over caring for her siblings and father and never really stopped. When she runs into Stewart Whitfield after making a shrimp delivery to his family’s mansion, she doesn’t think they could be more different. She’s had to figure out how to do everything by herself, and he can’t even change a tire. That’s why Stewart’s proposal that she pretend to be his girlfriend feels so unbelievable—but it comes with a hefty check that she desperately needs for home repairs. So she becomes the fake girlfriend of Stewart Whitfield (as in, the Whitfields her town is named after; his real fiancée just dumped him and it’s a bad time for him to be single) and experiences what it’s like to walk into fancy buildings through the front door instead of the service entrance. More than the boats and helicopter and expensive dinners, though, Dolly is impressed by what a kind man Stewart is—and how it feels to let someone else take care of her for a change. Soon, their relationship starts to feel more real than fake. Monaghan creates an impossibly winning story with a charming, lovable heroine. Dolly is capable, hardworking, and will do anything for the people she loves. She and Stewart both possess real flaws, and while their relationship begins with one of the most beloved rom-com tropes, their challenges feel like realistic adult obstacles rather than easily solved miscommunications. It’s also refreshing that, even though Dolly must learn to allow other people to help her, she never views her caretaking responsibilities as burdens. She deeply loves her family, and that love carries through the entire story.
A charming love story that absolutely radiates warmth.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9780593853979
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
SEEN & HEARD
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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