Those who buy into the magic will enjoy the mystery; others may be bogged down by all that history.
A Black historian on the hunt for an artifact uncovers a sacred sisterhood.
Unceremoniously downsized from her job at the Smithsonian, Sidney Taylor decides that her grandmother is due a visit. Sidney’s family has been entrenched in D.C. society and politics for as long as she can remember, but something about her Grams’ home in Robbinsville, North Carolina, has always felt right to Sidney, who spent happy college years in the small town. Greeted by the smiling face of her Grams, Sidney knows everything will be all right. Meeting handsome Gabe Willoughby, a fellow appreciator of history, doesn’t hurt either, though Sidney’s soon too distracted by her first love to notice him all that much. That first love is history, now wrapped in a mystery. Abner Robbins, owner of the Robbins Early American Living History Museum & Village, wants Sidney’s help locating a lost artifact. President James Madison, working with talented cryptographer Josiah Willoughby, left what amounts to a historical treasure hunt designed to lead players to an item Abner is determined must not be lost forever. Though some of the details seem murky, early successes in the hunt excite Sidney about the case as she learns about the rich history of the Daughters of Hathor and their protection of Scotland’s Queen Scota and her lineage. When things grow dangerous, Sidney isn’t sure whether someone’s trying to get her off the case or there’s just some old-fashioned racism and sexism around town. Never thrown from her path, Sidney uncovers what she can, even if some of it is hard to believe.
Those who buy into the magic will enjoy the mystery; others may be bogged down by all that history.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781448312610
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Enough clues, red herrings, and false endings to make readers feel that the Orient Express has put out to sea.
A luxury liner bound for New York in 1924 becomes the scene of a twisty golden age pastiche.
When an unnamed third-class passenger discovers the body of an elderly man at the bottom of an exterior flight of stairs aboard the Endeavour, Capt. McCrory insists it must be an accident. But James Temple, a Scotland Yard detective who just happens to be aboard, says that no one would have ventured to the outdoor steps in the rain without a coat, so the death should be treated as suspicious. Unable to stop Temple from investigating, McCrory assigns ship’s officer Timothy Birch to accompany him, and Birch promptly becomes the world’s most unwilling Dr. Watson, constantly battling Temple over theories and procedures. Anxious that they have only four days to find a potential killer before the ship docks and lets its 2,000 passengers roam free in New York, he’s especially infuriated at the leisurely pace marked by Temple’s bromide, “Facts before witnesses.” There’s reason to sympathize with Temple, because the suspects in first and second class (the only classes that matter in this ultra-class-conscious world) are cardboard cutouts—the successful banker, his trophy wife, the aspiring artists, the gallery owner—who are much less interesting than the secrets they’re hiding. In his most anachronistic development, author Hindle shows Birch, unlike the imperturbable sidekicks he echoes, sunk in grief over his vanished daughter, Amelia, and his estranged wife, Kate, who left him after Amelia disappeared during one of his ocean voyages. He’d do anything to get his daughter back, he tells Temple, and his determination leads to the biggest surprise of all.
Enough clues, red herrings, and false endings to make readers feel that the Orient Express has put out to sea.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9798217185740
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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