Superior Plating and Specialty Chemicals has been held exclusively by Chicago's Cavanaugh family for three generations, but it won't be for much longernot if Lydia Cavanaugh has her way. CEO Jack Cavanaugh's ditzy youngest daughter suddenly wants to sell her shares in the open market, and her older siblingsheir-apparent Philip, chief financial officer Dagny, unpolished ex-Marine Eugeneare frantic to stop her. How frantic? Well, on their new attorney Kate Millholland's first visit to the corporate offices to look over the operation, she practically trips over the body of Dagny's secretary, Cecilia Dobson. But this calamity is only a prelude to the real action, a second suspicious death that will shake the company to its foundationsand provide a nifty and nefarious new use for some of Superior Plating's most storied chemicals. In her first hardcover, Hartzmark has a fine time putting the wildly dysfunctional Cavanaughs through their paces, though corporate specialist Kate, who never wanted these puling infants as clients anyhow, is right in pointing out that as a criminal investigator, she's a great deal-maker. Despite the multiple traumas of the anything-for-a-wound Cavanaughs, Kate's appealing mix of savvy and sentiment make this a friendly, lively exposÇ.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-449-90989-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1995
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
This ran in the S.E.P. and resulted in more demands for the story in book form than ever recorded. Well, here it is and it is a honey. Imagine ten people, not knowing each other, not knowing why they were invited on a certain island house-party, not knowing their hosts. Then imagine them dead, one by one, until none remained alive, nor any clue to the murderer. Grand suspense, a unique trick, expertly handled.
Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1939
ISBN: 0062073478
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1939
SEEN & HEARD
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