Maitland has always been a notable spinner of mysteries, but his fifth case continues to extend his range, depth, and...
The shooting of a controversial prof in front of horrified witnesses reunites shaky DS Kathy Kolla, sidelined after the traumatic showdown of Silvermeadow (2002), with Chief Inspector David Brock.
Even before his arrival at the University of Central London East, philosophy professor Max Springer, long an antagonist of the tyranny of scientific rationalism, had added religious fundamentalism to his antipathies. At UCLE, where grieving Briony Kidd was his one and only student, he found both enemies conveniently lodged together in Professor Richard Haygill’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology, a showcase research lab staffed almost entirely by Islamic scientists and technicians. Though Springer’s outspoken courting of new antagonists makes the field of suspects rich, Kathy and Brock soon identify his probable killer. But when the suspect is murdered himself while in police custody, it becomes increasingly obvious that he was only the gunman for a higher-up playing a deeper game. Was it Springer’s nemesis Haygill, one of the Middle Easterners with whom he’d stocked CAB-Tech, the leaflet-mad head of the micro-cabal Islamic Action, or one of the Muslims who’d broken away from the Shadwell Road mosque to form a more radical community? For all the insults hurled back and forth, the truth, as usual in this taut series, is uglier and more devious than most readers can well imagine.
Maitland has always been a notable spinner of mysteries, but his fifth case continues to extend his range, depth, and mastery into Ruth Rendell territory.Pub Date: June 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55970-668-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Arcade
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
