A so-so debut for forensic scientists Hatton and Roumande, with a few grisly bits and an endearing glimpse of a botanist...
1856. Depravity reigns from the jungles of Borneo to the drawing rooms of London.
Deep in the basement of London’s St. Bart’s hospital, Professor Hatton and his able assistant Roumande work in the new field of forensics, which has led Scotland Yard’s Inspector Adams to call on them for clues in the death of Lady Bessingham, an eccentric who courted controversy. Lying semi-naked and butchered, with an unusual scent around her, the corpse is surrounded by her collection of tribal masks from the Malay Archipelago. Unfortunately, some of her jewelry is missing, as is a cache of letters written to her by Benjamin Broderig on an expedition to Borneo. He is desperate to retrieve those letters, which question whether man evolved from beasts, a theory violently disputed with the Duke of Monreith in the House of Lords. More deaths follow: a bookseller pinned to the floor like a specimen, a radical reporter with his neck punctured and stitched up, a Cambridge don skinned and stuffed, a spate of pubescent girls. Egged on by Broderig to investigate the Duke, who has unseemly sexual proclivities, Inspector Adams, who has a few impolitic ones of his own, demurs. While Hatton and Roumande sift clues, the most telling secrets are revealed by excerpts from Broderig’s correspondence with Lady Bessingham. It takes all Hatton and Roumande’s skills to assign blame appropriately and settle matters with discretion.
A so-so debut for forensic scientists Hatton and Roumande, with a few grisly bits and an endearing glimpse of a botanist collecting specimens in Borneo.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-312-55768-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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
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