Satisfyingly rich fare for puzzle addicts and conspiracy theorists alike, capped by a string of climactic fireworks that are...
A pair of murders apparently related only by their proximity in time and place—London’s normally homicide-free Chelsea district—provides the latest challenge for the Met’s DI Kathy Kolla and DCI David Brock (Dark Mirror, 2009, etc.).
Which is more incredible: that a stranger would attack visiting Boston widower Nancy Haynes as she emerged with her accountant and friend Emerson Merckle from the Chelsea Flower Show and throw her under a passing bus, or that wealthy Russian businessman Mikhail Moszynski would be stabbed to death in his garden a few steps from Chelsea Mansions, the faded boutique hotel where Nancy had insisted on staying? The theory favored by Commander Sharpe, Brock’s boss, is that Nancy must have been mistaken for Mikhail’s imperious mother Marta by someone bent on revenge against her son. A second theory, pushed hard by Chelsea Mansions owner Toby Beaumont, is that the evil power behind Mikhail’s death is Sir Nigel Hadden-Vane, the dirty MP Brock last tilted with in Spider Trap (2006). But there’s a third, even darker possibility buried deep in Nancy’s family history. Although Brock is sidelined through most of the early going by a life-threatening infection and Kathy gets pulled off the case just as he’s fit enough to return, they close the case by an impressive show of tag-team sleuthing, complemented by the unsolicited help they both get from Canadian forensic linguist John Greenslade, who’s now sleeping in the bed last occupied by Nancy Haynes.
Satisfyingly rich fare for puzzle addicts and conspiracy theorists alike, capped by a string of climactic fireworks that are still exploding in the very last paragraph.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-60066-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
This ran in the S.E.P. and resulted in more demands for the story in book form than ever recorded. Well, here it is and it is a honey. Imagine ten people, not knowing each other, not knowing why they were invited on a certain island house-party, not knowing their hosts. Then imagine them dead, one by one, until none remained alive, nor any clue to the murderer. Grand suspense, a unique trick, expertly handled.
Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1939
ISBN: 0062073478
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1939
SEEN & HEARD
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
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