The evocative, isolated setting becomes the locked room in this Christie-esque whodunit.
Multiple murders blacken a diplomatic dinner in an icebound restaurant.
Reid’s atmospheric fiction debut creates suspense through a trio of murders, each of them alternating with flashbacks providing significant details doled out in teaspoons. In a murky prologue, Kristján Gunnarsson, later identified as the mayor of Vestmannaeyjar, encounters a corpse whom we later learn was his husband, Ari. Despite his fragile emotional state, Kristján is obliged to host a diplomatic dinner at the noted Skel restaurant on Heimaey, an island off the southern coast of Iceland. The attendees include Canadian ambassador Graeme Shearer and his wife, Jane, from whose perspective this section is presented. A double blow comes when a storm prevents the nine people present from leaving and Graeme’s deputy ambassador, Kavita, suddenly collapses and dies. Subsequent chapters, beginning with “Thirteen Hours Before She Died,” march forward to the tragic event. Noteworthy revelations include Kristján’s belief that Ari was murdered and Jane’s realization that Graeme is having an affair she’s the last to learn about. Before the solution to this second murder comes another section, kicked off with “Thirty-Seven Hours Before He Dies.” Again, the story moves forward in small chunks of time before the identities of both the killer and the third victim are revealed. Reid’s status as a Canadian native and former first lady of Iceland—her husband was president from 2016 to 2024—authentically informs both the Canadian perspective and the Icelandic setting. Her cast of suspects is vivid, even if their uniqueness is sometimes lost in the swirl of the complex puzzle.
The evocative, isolated setting becomes the locked room in this Christie-esque whodunit.Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781728292410
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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