An often intriguing historical mystery despite some awkward dialogue.
A savvy young woman solves a murder in 1930s Dallas in Oliver’s mystery series starter.
One day, Chinese immigrant laundry worker Daiyu “Dai” Wu smells the aroma of burned garlic coming from a gown at her family’s laundry. She’s sightless, but her acute olfactory sense leads her to believe that the gown has arsenic in it, and she soon runs a test that confirms it. Dai’s companion, handyman and driver Jacques Haskin (who narrates the book), accompanies her to see medical examiner Aiden Campbell to find out if someone recently died of arsenic poisoning, on a hunch that the beautiful green gown was sent to the laundry to destroy evidence. The doctor doesn’t know of any recent deaths, but Dai finds an obituary that fits the facts: a Laura Cooper who was thought to have died of natural causes. Dai and Jacques work together to track down the deceased’s fiance, which pulls them into a whirlwind of high society. When Aiden confirms that the amount of arsenic in the gown was too high to have come from an arsenic-based dye, Dai is convinced they need to solve a murder. They befriend Truman Pierce, a friend of the deceased Laura’s and the British aristocrat to whom she was betrothed. Truman is charming but untrustworthy; Jacques repeatedly calls him a “popinjay” and seems jealous, although the relationship between Jacques and Dai is more like siblings. Oliver gives Dai and Jacques a Holmes-Watson dynamic, with Dai acting as the skilled detective and Jacques offering support as they put together clues. They continually encounter anti-Chinese prejudice, which effectively adds another set of impediments to their investigation. Some of the dialogue feels stilted: “But as my intelligence is rather technical, I wished to share my findings with whomever the justice goes to for such matters, so they can bring up the scientific evidence we accidentally came across.” However, the various characters, and particularly Dai, are often quite compelling. There are also several red herrings and misdirects that will keep readers on their toes.
An often intriguing historical mystery despite some awkward dialogue.Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-957230-07-8
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Dimension Palace Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 26, 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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
