A bundle of loose ends dulls the impact of what begins as a brisk and unusual puzzler.
DCI Neil Paget (Night Fall, 2012, etc.) leads his team into an increasingly murky investigation of a matter that may not even be criminal.
MP Stephen Lorrimer and his wife, Julia, have been lucky to find a live-in nanny so devoted to their son. Michael was born with an unusual set of physical anomalies that have left him nearly blind and unable to speak,; it has been a challenge since his difficult birth left his mother hospitalized for weeks. Although Julia has failed utterly at bonding with Michael, Philippine-born Justine Delgado seems truly to love her difficult charge. Which is why it seems unfathomable that Justine should leave Simla House for Mass on Easter Sunday never to return, nor to leave any message for Michael’s bewildered parents. Paget’s star detectives, veteran DS John Tregalles and neophyte DS Molly Forsythe, can find no trace of Justine, who seems to have no interests other than to ensure her 5-year-old charge’s well-being. Well, almost none: a packet of contraceptives with one pill missing hints that there may be a man in Justine’s life. But her best friend, nurse Maria Navarro, has no clue who her suitor might be, and the odd assortment of health care professionals who make up Maria’s hectic household seem barely to know Justine exists. Since Justine is an adult who seems to have left the house under her own steam, there’s no sign that a crime’s been committed. It’s only a combination of luck, intuition, and persistence that helps Paget solve such a baffling case.
A bundle of loose ends dulls the impact of what begins as a brisk and unusual puzzler.Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7278-8674-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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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