A fun rags-to-riches tale in an engaging mystery helmed by an appealing protagonist.
An extraordinary surprise inheritance places a resourceful young nurse’s life in danger in this mystery/thriller.
Twenty-seven-year-old Tori Winters is working as a hospice nurse in Springfield, Missouri, when she receives a phone call that Horace Milburn, one of her patients, has died. Although Horace was in hospice care at home, Tori is surprised that he succumbed so quickly because he had been feeling better in recent days. She arrives at the Russell house, where Horace had been living with his daughter, Amelia, and son-in-law, Charlie, and discovers that too few of his pain medication pills are in their container. Tori suspects foul play, and she becomes the prime witness in Charlie’s murder trial. After continued harassment by Charlie’s two brothers, Earl and Farley, culminating in a bullet smashing through her living room window, Tori decides it is time to get out of town. Then she receives a phone call from attorney Jonah Greer in Granbury, Texas, saying he has important business to discuss with her. She sets out for Texas but not before covering her tracks by telling everyone in Springfield that she is moving to Colorado. She meets with Jonah and learns that her paternal grandmother, Elly Leichter, who she had been told died decades earlier, has just recently passed away. Elly left her entire estate to Tori, including an old mansion in need of repair. Tori falls in love with the mysterious house and inherits a world of danger. Dickason’s series opener features an intriguing hero. And the house—with its unique history; intricately described, valuable antiques; and many secrets—offers plenty of opportunities for future plotlines. Tori intends to turn the “white elephant” into a bed-and-breakfast (“The house was a mish-mash of arched windows, plain and stained glass, and gingerbread trim”). Several attempts on Tori’s life provide adequate moments of moderate tension, and there is an ample supply of possible suspects. Although there are no big final surprises, the entertaining narrative moves along at a healthy clip, building a collection of captivating secondary characters who are likely to appear in the sequel, with one who may become a romantic interest.
A fun rags-to-riches tale in an engaging mystery helmed by an appealing protagonist.Pub Date: July 1, 2022
ISBN: 9781734082197
Page Count: 364
Publisher: Mystic Circle Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.
What hasn’t legendary legal eagle Grisham tried yet? How about a thriller about serial kidnapping and international terrorism.
When Paul and Chelsea Tanner disappear during a day trip on their Paris honeymoon, their abductors demand a ransom of $2 million from Chelsea’s wealthy parents, and a few days later the same sum from Paul’s much less well-heeled parents. After orthopedist Lowell Clayburn, Chelsea’s father, ponies up the ransom without breathing a word to the authorities, his daughter is promptly released. But even though Paul’s parents sell their home, liquidate their assets, and borrow money from the Clayburns to meet the kidnappers’ demands, the villains hold on to Paul anyway. Asked whether he’s ever seen such an outcome in a double kidnapping, FBI deputy director Andrew Strong tells Lowell: “No, this is a new one.” But it’s not, as Strong knows all too well; it’s the third such active case, all involving honeymooning couples whose bridegrooms had served in the armed forces. After masterfully drawing readers in with his bare-knuckle account of the Tanners’ abduction and the attempt by their families and the CIA to tell the lies required to keep caring friends and the rapacious press at bay, Grisham effortlessly switches gears to follow CIA agent Rae Claire Russo and Stuart Nash, a former Department of Justice prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay who agrees to marry her so they can serve as bait for the kidnappers, whose motives include justice and revenge as well as cold hard cash. So much for the imprisoned Paul’s wistful reflection that “hopefully, it was only about money.”
The story unfolds so irresistibly that newcomers may think Grisham’s been writing thrillers like this his whole life.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780385550543
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2026
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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