A mystery that aptly covers two time periods, fronted by an offbeat protagonist.
In this debut thriller, an inspector’s dual murder cases may be connected to an unidentified serial killer’s spree from 20 years ago.
Just days away from Christmas in 2009, Inspector Andrea Pantaleo of the murder squad in Bari, Italy, has two new cases on his desk. One is the mutilated body of an unknown woman, with indications of torture and rape; the other is a gangland-style shooting of three men. In the novel’s concurrent plot, events beginning in 1960 ultimately lead to the 1988 investigation of the murder of Marta Villoresi in Genoa. Inspector Gianrico Salvemini works this case, which involves two key pieces of evidence the killer has intentionally left behind: a cassette tape and a two-word anagram. The tape contains audio of Marta’s brutal murder, ending with the soundtrack to the 1975 Italian horror film Profondo Rosso (Deep Red). Salvemini pinpoints and arrests a suspect, but a second homicide, with another tape and the same anagram, could mean he has the wrong man. More murders ensue and, though they eventually stop, remain unsolved by 2009. Pantaleo, however, has evidence that links his two cases with Marta’s murder by the ’88 serial killer, who may once again be active. Originally published in Italian, Calabrese’s series opener introduces a curious inspector who appears in later volumes. Short-tempered Pantaleo is unlikable, physically assaulting a parking attendant with little provocation. But there’s a softer side, as he fawns over his grandmother, who raised him until he was 10 years old (when her health deteriorated). The engrossing 1988 plot, at over a third of the book’s length, is fully fleshed out, meticulously following Salvemini’s investigation. Descriptions of murders from both eras—a victim’s perspective as well as forensics examinations—are graphic and harrowing. This may be due to Thompson’s translation: The English-language prose, though comprehensible, is unadorned and cold. Despite Pantaleo’s affinity for Sherlock Holmes, the inspector reaches a solution primarily through fortuity and others finding links between the cases.
A mystery that aptly covers two time periods, fronted by an offbeat protagonist.Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-973529-19-4
Page Count: 299
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media
Review Posted Online: July 9, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An endearing tale about a magical correspondence.
A fantasy novel tells the story of three thieves who inadvertently become advice purveyors after seeking shelter in an abandoned store.
When their car breaks down unexpectedly, three young criminals decide to hide out in a convenience store that has long been out of business. Atsuya, Kohei, and Shota are planning to lie low for a while—at least for the night—but before they can even settle in, an envelope slides through the store’s mail slot. They are immediately suspicious. Who would deliver a missive to a store that hasn’t been open in decades? The letter is from an athlete looking for advice: Should she forgo her Olympic training to take care of her dying boyfriend or push forward to pursue her dream? “As I was struggling on my own with these thoughts, I heard some rumors going around about the Namiya General Store,” she writes. “I know my chances are slim, but I’m writing on the off chance that you might be able to help me figure things out.” The guys discover that the store—when it was in operation—had a reputation for being a place to have questions answered. Kohei, out of boredom, answers the letter and drops it in the mail bin. Almost immediately, he gets a response. The correspondence continues, though the trio can’t tell where the letters are coming from—other than that they seem to be from 30 years in the past. The novel is a bit of a Russian doll, with one layer of narrative opening to reveal the next. Higashino’s (The Name of the Game Is a Kidnapping, 2017, etc.) prose—as translated from the Japanese by Bett (Star, 2019, etc.)—is muscular and concise: “Exiting the station and heading down the street of shops, Kosuke Waku felt an unsettling feeling creep across his chest. He was right. Just as he’d feared, hard times hadn’t spared this town.” More than a time travel mystery, the story is a rather earnest tale of human decision-making, and the author is adept at drawing an emotional response from readers. Inventive and always surprising, this book is easy to get drawn into and difficult to put down.
An endearing tale about a magical correspondence.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-975382-57-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Yen On
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Contains everything readers have come to expect from powerhouse Connelly. Bonus: Additional installments hold the intriguing...
Fresh from returning Harry Bosch to the LAPD with The Closers (2005), veteran crime novelist Connelly offers intrigue and bracing twists in his first legal thriller.
Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller is known as a “Lincoln lawyer” because he does business while being driven from courthouse to courthouse in his Town Car. Scraping by by defending lowlifes, some of whom offer their chauffeur services to work off Haller’s fees, he stumbles across a dream client: a rich boy accused of viciously beating a woman. Most important for Haller, Louis Roulet loudly proclaims his innocence, and his family has the dough to pay top-dollar for representation. But Haller’s father, J. Michael Haller (making Bosch and Haller half-brothers, Connelly’s wink to longtime fans) said there was “no client as scary as an innocent man,” and soon Haller is confronted with the consequences that come from the system’s inevitable compromises. When Haller’s investigator and friend is murdered for getting too close to the truth, he’s forced to confront the cost of sacrificing ideals for pragmatism. To spill more plot detail would spoil a good deal of the considerable fun here; suffice to say the conflict sparks in Haller an epic case of cognitive dissonance. Connelly gets the legal details and maneuvers just right, and Haller is a great character—world-weary but funny and likable—he’s never met an angle he couldn’t play or a corner he couldn’t cut.
Contains everything readers have come to expect from powerhouse Connelly. Bonus: Additional installments hold the intriguing possibility of one day seeing Bosch and Haller together on the streets of L.A.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2005
ISBN: 0-316-73493-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2005
BOOK TO SCREEN
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