Fourth in a series (The Merchant of Death, 1995, etc.) by Grace (a.k.a. P.C. Doherty) built around Kathryn Swinbrooke, physician and herbalist in 15th-century Canterbury. Edward of York and his beautiful Queen Elizabeth Woodville rule in the aftermath of civil war, but Elizabeth feels threatened by the spells and secrets held by her necromancer (and blackmailer) Tenebrae in his journal—The Book of Shadows. When Tenebrae is found murdered in his black mansion in Canterbury, Kathryn is called to the scene. She finds a locked-room scenario in which those present at the time of the magus's death, composed of a group from a London goldsmith's guild whom Tenebrae saw one by one, appear innocent, but the infamous Book of Shadows has vanished. Kathryn's Irish love, Colum Murtagh, the King's Commissioner in Canterbury, is under pressure from Queen Elizabeth to recover the book and identify the murderer. Together, they talk to everyone involved—from Tenebrae's servants Morel and Bogbean to Sir Raymond Hetherington, physician Brissot, rich widow Dauncey, clerk Fronsac, and others of the London party. When members of that group begin to turn up dead, Kathryn returns to Tenebrae's house, risking her life but eventually coming up with an inspired solution. The author's medieval mix as before—repetitious catalogues of the city's sights, sounds and smells; much good-natured chatter with Kathryn's lusty cook Thomasins; a surfeit of local ``characters'' and ailing patients, and an unconvincing killer. Of possible interest to devotees of the period—for others, mostly tedium.
Pub Date: June 11, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-14287-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1996
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 2025 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.
