by Andrew Diamond ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 2021
An investigator who’s an acquired taste softens during this intense thriller.
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A fledgling detective discovers the hard way that being overconfident could land her in deep trouble in this engrossing mystery.
Author Diamond’s investigator is Claire Chastain, back for a second outing following The Friday Cage (2020). Claire formerly examined hidden risks for corporate buyouts, a dull sort of detective work. But after the traumatizing events of the first volume, she is taking criminal justice courses at American University. Now, she’s game for something more challenging. Well, be careful what you wish for. Claire receives a call from appliance magnate Roscoe Lehmann, who has a case for her, though she’s not yet a licensed PI. He wants her to check out Jacob Reisman, a squirrelly employee who might be stealing. Posing as an insurance investigator, Claire soon determines that Jacob is far too nervous to be a thief. Doing the proper legwork, Claire even visits Jacob at his apartment. When he’s brutally murdered, Claire becomes a suspect, with a security camera capturing an image of a woman who looks like Claire around the time of the crime. She had ignored her doubts about the case, and now she is framed as a result. Ignoring the sensible advice of her attorney, Anton Durant, Claire stubbornly sets out to prove her innocence. As Anton notes throughout, Claire suffers from “resting bitch face,” which makes her appear guilty despite being innocent. She came by her demeanor honestly; her overbearing grandmother taught her to distrust everybody. Perhaps she can learn to trust a bit more? While the novel does have likable supporting characters, like Anton and the victim, the narrative is primarily a battle of wits between Claire and the real killer, who set her up. The action swiftly moves along as Claire races around the country following leads, too impatient to wait for Anton’s investigator and the police to clear her. The real question that remains is what has the hotheaded detective learned that will serve her better down the road.
An investigator who’s an acquired taste softens during this intense thriller.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73413-924-2
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Stolen Time Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Tana French ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2024
An absorbing crime yarn.
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New York Times Bestseller
A divorced American detective tries to blend into rural Ireland in this sequel to The Searcher (2020).
In fictional Ardnakelty, on Ireland’s west coast, lives retired American cop Cal Hooper, who busies himself repairing furniture with 15-year-old Theresa “Trey” Reddy and fervently wishes to be boring. Then into town pops Trey’s long-gone, good-for-nothing dad, Johnny, all smiles and charm. Much to her distaste, he says he wants to reclaim his fatherly role. In fact, he’s on the run from a criminal for a debt he can’t repay, and he has a cockamamie scheme to persuade local townsfolk that there might be gold in the nearby mountain with a vein that might run through some of their properties. (What, no leprechauns?) “It’s not sheep shite you’ll be smelling in a few months’ time, man,” he tells a farmer. “It’s champagne and caviar.” Some people have fun fantasizing about sudden riches, but they know better. Johnny’s pursuer, Cillian Rushborough, comes to town, and Johnny tries to convince him he could get rich by purchasing people’s land. Alas, someone bashes Rushborough’s brains in, and now there’s a murder mystery. The plot is a bit of a stretch, but the characters and their relationships work well. Trey detests Johnny for not being in her life, and now that he’s back, she neither wants nor needs him. She gets on much better with Cal. Still, she’s a testy teenager when she thinks someone is not treating her like an adult. Cal is aware of this, and he’s careful how he talks to her. Johnny, not so much: “I swear to fuck, women are only put on this earth to wreck our fuckin’ heads,” he whines about Trey’s mother, briefly forgetting he’s talking to Trey. The book abounds in local color and lively dialogue.
An absorbing crime yarn.Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593493434
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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SEEN & HEARD
by C.J. Box ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 2024
A tale that’s hard to believe but easy to swallow in a single gulp.
A bear is hunting prey in Wyoming’s Bighorns. And not just any bear.
It’s bad enough that Clay Hutmacher, who manages the Double Diamond Ranch, has lost his son, Clay Jr., to a vicious attack by a grizzly bear. What’s much worse is that Clay Jr.—who’d been about to pop the question to game warden Joe Pickett’s daughter, Sheridan—is only the first of the victims over an exceptionally broad geographical area. Marshal Marvin Bertignolli is clawed and bitten to death over in Hanna. Sgt. Ryan Winner is found bleeding out north of Rawlins. Former Twelve Sleep County prosecutor Dulcie Schalk, one of two survivors of an ambush, doesn’t survive her final encounter. The four experts chosen to kill the grizzly rope Joe into their expedition, but since their quarry keeps turning up far from the last sighting, the most meaningful confrontation the Predator Attack Team has is with a pair of Mama Bears, animal rights activists who demand due process for Tisiphone, as they’ve dubbed the presumed killer. Box, who’s far too canny to leave Tisiphone alone on center stage, follows Joe’s old antagonist Dallas Cates as the ex–rodeo star is released from prison and embarks on his revenge tour, which takes him to Lee Ogburn-Russell, an inventor whose life Dallas saved, and Axel Soledad, a correspondent who shares so many enemies with Dallas that he suggests they go after them together. Franchise fans will appreciate new details about Joe’s complicated family, the obligatory high-country landscapes, and yet another corrupt law enforcer.
A tale that’s hard to believe but easy to swallow in a single gulp.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780593331347
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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