This engaging mystery should please fans of the series and pick up some new ones.
In this 17th installment of a mystery series, two newspaper colleagues must keep on their toes while investigating the death of a square-dance caller.
Warren “Mitch” Mitchell, a reporter for the St. Paul, Minnesota–based Daily Dispatch, is taking up square dancing at the behest of his lawyer wife. No sooner does he make the acquaintance of a nationally renowned caller at a dance than the man keels over. A heart attack is suspected, but as the medical examiner cautions Mitch: “You might want to wait on presuming anything until the autopsy results are complete.” Sure enough, it is determined that the caller was murdered with a shot of “enough fentanyl to knock out a horse.” The news sparks an investigation by Mitch and Alan “Al” Jeffrey, the newspaper’s staff photographer. Meanwhile, Mitch’s mother is being spooked by a phantom’s late-night visits to her farm, rearranging porch furniture, stealing implements, and “trying to drive us nuts,” she says. One night, she catches the prowler in the act and fires a warning rifle shot that takes off a couple of his toes. When someone shoots out a window in her bedroom, Mitch ceases to be an unbiased observer, locates the perpetrator, and demands that he reveal who’s behind the harassment of his mother. After nearly 20 years, Ickler is comfortable in the skins of Mitch and Al; perhaps too comfortable. The subplot with Mitch’s mother raises the stakes in an otherwise straightforward mystery. Al’s co-billing in the subtitle is generous. The photographer exists here mostly to set up puns for he and Mitch to swap. Mileage will vary on how funny they are, but some, like one play on the phrase the right to bear arms, land solidly. And in this enjoyable story, readers will learn about square-dance etiquette and culture. In addition, the journalism procedural bits accurately reflect the often mundane work that goes into breaking news scoops.
This engaging mystery should please fans of the series and pick up some new ones.Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-977248-79-4
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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