The romances, which are more interesting than the murder, make for a modestly involving read characteristic of Fraser’s...
Whose grief is more intense, the widow’s or her adult children’s?
Anna Farrell’s husband died while playing a round of golf last year. To cheer her up, her children Jonathan, a journalist, and Sophie, a designer, and their spouses send her off on a South African holiday, where she meets and beds another tourist, Lewis Masters, the divorced owner of a chain of upmarket spas. Anna is loath to admit her indiscretion to the kids, but Sophie arrives for some coddling after she spies her hubby canoodling with her best friend, and the secret is soon out. Jonathan is startled to learn that his mum’s lover is under police investigation for the stabbing murder of an employee who had contacted Jonathan about spa treatments that she claimed had caused five deaths. But when Jonathan goes to a hotel to meet her, she’s lying dead in the tub, her safe is open and the files stored on a memory drive are missing. Marriages past and present come under scrutiny—Jonathan and his wife are only recently reconciled, while Sophie is naturally on the outs with her husband—and almost nobody, not even Anna, is best pleased about her quickie entanglement. The police plod along, and at length, on the 30th anniversary of the spas’ opening. The murderer is revealed with Lewis’s son, ex-wife, staff and celebratory guests in attendance.
The romances, which are more interesting than the murder, make for a modestly involving read characteristic of Fraser’s output (Unfinished Portrait, 2010, etc.).Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-07278-8057-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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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