The protagonist is flawed, often self-hating, and yet deeply sympathetic in this accomplished first novel: a police...
Brooklyn homicide detective Jack Leightner reacts violently to the dead body, and at first can’t understand why. A 20-year veteran, he’s seen more than his share of stabbings, but this one is different. Somehow this murdered Hispanic kid connects to his own life so intensely that he soon becomes obsessed with finding the killer. On the face of it, Tomas Barrios was an ordinary boy in an ordinary job, an elevator operator in an apartment building. Why then should powerful people seem unnerved by Leightner’s investigation? For that matter, why should Leightner himself be unnerved by it, as if there were something he needed to hide? Because there is, of course, and he’s been hiding it from all the world—his friends, his ex-wife, his son, himself—in order to block all awareness of how emotionally crippling the secret has been. Thirty years ago, Leightner’s younger brother was knifed in exactly the same way, in almost the same isolated Red Hook locale, as Tomas Barrios. For all that time, Leightner has shouldered the blame for his brother’s murder. Now, acting against his orders, he endangers not only his career but his relationship with a woman he knows he can love in order to answer this new riddle because he senses that solving Tomas’s murder will amount to an act of expiation, perhaps redemption.
The protagonist is flawed, often self-hating, and yet deeply sympathetic in this accomplished first novel: a police procedural with heart.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-312-27458-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Dunne/Minotaur
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2001
An appealing, three-dimensional heroine and some clever plot twists make this an enjoyable, quick read.
In this mystery novel, somebody’s been killing the proprietors of a prestigious inn, and the newest innkeeper is determined to find out why before she becomes the next victim.
Doyle (The Infidelity Pact, 2008, etc.) is a self-described “foodie” and an avid cheerleader for the quaint village of East Hampton, New York, and she indulges both of these passions in this first installment of her new Hamptons Murder Mysteries series. Recently transplanted from California following a nasty divorce, 35-year-old protagonist Antonia Bingham has bought the Windmill Inn from the estate of Gordon Haslett, who died suddenly, apparently from a heart attack. An inventive, passionate chef, Antonia has just reopened the inn’s restaurant when she learns from two of her regulars, Len and Sylvia Powers, that the circumstances surrounding Gordon’s death were suspicious. Worse, he wasn’t the first owner of the inn to experience an untimely death. Now, strange things are happening to Antonia—someone removes a stepladder while she’s installing a light bulb, someone locks her in a supply closet, and more. Her new buddy, Joseph Fowler, a 60-something widower, joins in the amateur sleuthing as they try to sort out the possible motives of a multitude of suspects; Gordon, they discover, was universally disliked. Doyle is an enthusiastic guide for Long Island’s East End village; she details each street and shop, the spectacular beaches, and the unique play of sunlight that has been a siren call to artists for more than a century. She also gives readers plenty of opportunities to vicariously indulge in every mouthwatering bite that Antonia and her restaurant patrons consume—especially if the item is loaded with butter, sugar, or some other comforting dietary no-no. Doyle also pays careful attention to housing décor, wardrobe selections, and the hairstyles of every character, which perhaps stems from her experience as a screenwriter (Intern, 2009). The generally smooth prose maintains a gentle pace, although there are one or two unnecessarily awkward lead-ins, such as “an odd incident occurred that unnerved Antonia and once again gave her pause about her own mortality.” The dinner-table gathering of suspects isn’t an original device, but it’s fun and satisfying nonetheless.
An appealing, three-dimensional heroine and some clever plot twists make this an enjoyable, quick read.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9972701-4-3
Page Count: 410
Publisher: Dunemere Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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A good one in the tough school, in which private detective Marlowe is hired to investigate a blackmailing and finds himself bucking a well-run gang, several murders, and the D A's office. Hard-boiled, fast paced, plenty of action, some sensationalism. Not for conservatives.
Pub Date: Feb. 5, 1938
ISBN: 0394758285
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1938
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