As the heroine sagely summarizes her work: “The only thing I knew for certain was that nearly everyone was lying.”
The search for a German spy aboard the RMS Olympic is complicated by all the subplots you’d expect from the prewar romantic intrigue subgenre.
Word is that the agent passing on intelligence to the Third Reich is either restaurant manager Heinz Naumann, ship bandleader Keith Brubacher, or Edwin Banks, who runs the photography office aboard the Olympic. But none of them behaves half as suspiciously as Miles Van de Meter, who swept minor heiress Vanessa FitzSimmons off her feet in Monte Carlo, married her within two weeks, and then disappeared shortly after boarding for their honeymoon voyage, followed soon after by his luggage. Vanessa is so voluble in pestering everyone about her missing bridegroom that Jane Wunderly and Redvers Dibble, the not-quite-a-couple who’ve booked passage as Mr. and Mrs. Wunderly so that they can identify the agent before he does any more damage, are hard-pressed to keep their eye on the spy. Redvers, a duly accredited operative of Her Majesty’s Government, has his methods, which seem mainly limited to getting his confederate, steward Francis Dobbins, to help him search all the first-class passengers’ staterooms over and over looking for evidence, but Jane, an amateur who seems hopelessly out past her depth, can do little but flirt with Heinz—the other two suspects are impervious to her advances—and keep an eagle eye out for Eloise Baumann, whose aggressively endless chatter makes Vanessa seem quiet. The mixture is eventually seasoned with murder, but both felonies and complications take much longer to arrive than romance.
As the heroine sagely summarizes her work: “The only thing I knew for certain was that nearly everyone was lying.”Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2591-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A complex and surprising mystery enhanced by historically accurate information about the science and society of the period.
The Regency period produced many inventions. The plans for one of them provide a motive for murder.
Charlotte, Countess of Wrexford, rejoices in the wedding of her best friend, Christopher “Kit” Sheffield, to mathematician Lady Cordelia Mansfield. All goes as planned until an intruder to Wrexford Manor must be driven off by Charlotte’s husband, the Earl of Wrexford, and “the Weasels,” two street lads educated and adopted by her family. After the ceremony, a magistrate and a surgeon arrive to announce the murder of an unidentified man with a wedding invitation in his pocket, whom they assume to be Cordelia’s cousin Oliver Carrick. Hearing their description, Cordelia realizes that the dead man is actually Oliver’s fellow scientist and her old friend Jasper Milton, immediately making Oliver a suspect. The four friends and the Weasels, who’ve been instrumental in solving previous mysteries, quickly delve into this one. Jasper had been working on ideas to improve bridges in a time when transportation is mostly for the rich. A brilliant engineer, he was also philosophically opposed to the rich getting richer on the backs of the poor. Apparently several French factions are desperate to get the plans, including one that hopes to sell them to Russia for enough money to return Napoleon to power. Since His Majesty’s government and plenty of businesspeople are also anxious to get the plans, it’s no easy task to figure out which of them murdered Jasper. A conference brings many of the players together, giving the sleuths a chance to search for answers. They go down several dangerous and blind alleys in their painful hunt for the truth.
A complex and surprising mystery enhanced by historically accurate information about the science and society of the period.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9781496739964
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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