Morrell (Extreme Denial, 1996, etc.) slams two wildly unrelated stories together to produce this misshapen, empty, though greased-lightning thriller. Story #1. Prizewinning photographer Mitch Coltrane, back home from Bosnia, is being threatened and stalked by somebody who calls himself “the judge”’somebody who’s obviously Dragan Ilkovic, the Serb commander whose heinous war crimes Mitch managed to document, at hair-raising peril, just before he left. Mitch wants to put the ugliness of his life’s work behind him by shooting an updated series of photos of the opulent Hollywood homes immortalized in the work of legendary photographer Randolph Packard back in the 1930s. But Packard dies shortly after bringing Coltrane on board, and Ilkovic—not just a war criminal, but a sadistic torturer and an electronics freak—keeps getting closer, killing Coltrane’s neighbor and friend, an LAPD cop on the case, and Coltrane’s grandparents in Connecticut, in a race toward a showdown—halfway through the novel—that suddenly clears the ground for Story #2. This one is a tender (though equally corpse-strewn) tale of romantic intrigue that starts when Coltrane, who’s purchased an old home Packard photographed and bought for himself, becomes besotted with a trove of photos of Rebecca Chance, a stunning Hollywood hopeful from the ’40s, then (following the trail to another of Packard’s houses) meets Natasha Adler, who looks eerily like the reincarnation of Rebecca Chance. Coltrane’s loyal friend, editor, and sometime lover Jennifer Lane warns him that Tash is trouble, but does the big lug listen? Desperate to forget Ilkovic’s carnage, as well as all those ugly war photos, he keeps missing the chasm that even half-wit readers, who—ve had the benefit of 200 pages to think it over, will see yawning beneath his feet. The first story is midgrade, unsurprising stalker stuff; the second, which ends with Coltrane becoming a stalker himself, is risible. Think Vertigo rewritten for Steven Seagal. (Book-of-the-Month Club alternate selection)
Pub Date: May 12, 1998
ISBN: 0-446-51963-4
Page Count: 448
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
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
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
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