An entertaining ghost story that is often more silly than spooky.
After adopting her nieces, a woman finds her life turned upside down by the ghosts of her past come back to haunt her—literally.
Clara Woods hated her brother in life. Now that he’s dead, killed on an anniversary quest to climb K2 with his wife, she finally has a way to get back at him: by using his daughters’ childcare allowance to fund her business venture, Clarabelle Diamonds. What Clara doesn’t know is that Ben’s children are special: 14-year-old Lily can see emotions like multicolored flames on other people’s bodies, and 9-year-old Violet can commune with spirits. But when this last ability causes Violet to inadvertently free the ghosts lingering on her aunt’s property, Clara, Lily, Violet, and Clara’s housekeeper, Dina, find themselves at the epicenter of a real-life haunting. The ghosts of Clara’s former employer, Cecilia Lawrence, who left her the house where they’re living; Clara’s missing husband, Timmy; and his mistress, Ellie, come untethered from their places around the home. Now unshackled and able to affect the material realm, they have one mission: to make Clara’s life a living hell. And unluckiest of all, a séance reveals that the only way to stop the haunting may be Clara’s own murder. In spite of subject matter consisting of axe murders and occult rituals, this is a light and lighthearted reading experience. The audience will crow to watch the deliciously awful Clara get her comeuppance, as her not-so-friendly ghosts do everything they can to make her even more miserable than she already is. Lily and Violet are capable narrators, and Violet’s plucky attitude makes her chapters a particular delight to read. Although Bruce’s latest offering will not appease readers looking for a terrifying haunted-house story, mystery and thriller fans will find a lot to love in this romp through the ectoplasm.
An entertaining ghost story that is often more silly than spooky.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780593724958
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Great crime fiction.
An apparent suicide threatens to destroy an Irish farm town in the final volume of French’s Cal Hooper trilogy.
In the fictional western Ireland townland of Ardnakelty, “there’s a girl going after missing.” Soon young Rachel Holohan is found dead in the river. Shortly before, she had stopped at Lena Dunne’s home, and nothing had seemed amiss. The medical examiner determines she’d swallowed antifreeze, and he presumes she then fell from a bridge into the water. The medical examiner and the town agree she’d died by suicide. But there is far more to the plot: 16-year-old Trey Reddy thinks Tommy Moynihan murdered Rachel. Moynihan doles out favors and punishments to the local townsfolk, who know it’s best not to cross him. Now rumors spread that Moynihan wants land and has a secret plan to forcibly buy up parcels from the locals. A factory will be built, or a great big data center, or who knows what. If Tommy’s son, Eugene, can get elected to the local council, then compulsory purchase orders for land will follow, and the farms will disappear. Eugene, who’d been romantically involved with Rachel, is wonderfully described as “on the weedy edge of good-looking” and just fine as long as you “don’t have high expectations in the way of chins.” Lena is engaged to the American Cal Hooper, an ex-cop turned woodworker. They are “more or less raising” Trey, and these three core characters are drawn into the mystery of Rachel’s death and may have to face the looming clouds of civilizational change for Ardnakelty. Lena is chastised for “asking your wee questions all round the townland,” and Trey wants to quit school, against Cal’s advice. Finally, the story’s best line: “You can’t go killing people just because they deserve it.”
Great crime fiction.Pub Date: March 31, 2026
ISBN: 9780593493465
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 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.
