A thoughtfully plotted and skillfully characterized procedural mystery—and, it appears, the first in a new series.
A capable but jaded NYPD detective questions whether a dangerous killer is picking off his romantic partners one by one—or whether someone else is getting away with murder.
When Alex Traynor’s fiancee, Emily, goes missing, Detective Sheryn Sterling feels partly responsible. After all, when another woman connected to Alex died the previous year after falling off a roof, she was sure he was guilty—but she could never find enough evidence to put him away. Alex might be an award-winning photojournalist, but his years spent bearing witness to the horrors of war have given him PTSD, and Sheryn knows from personal experience that this demon can make rational people do terrible, violent things. As the investigation into Emily’s disappearance deepens, Sheryn and her new partner find themselves going back over the previous case as well. It’s possible that there’s a darker story there and that Alex isn’t the only one with secrets. The novel changes third-person perspectives in each chapter, giving insight and development to a handful of different characters, which allows for several characters to become multifaceted throughout the novel. There is an immediate relevance to Alex’s struggles with PTSD as well as to Sheryn’s concern that her beloved former (retired) partner’s casual bigotry might have had some effect on how they approached their job. An additional plot thread involving both opioid addiction and illegal prescriptions also rings sadly current. Overall, Davidson's (Blood Always Tells, 2014, etc.) plot doesn’t offer anything groundbreakingly new or unfamiliar, but it’s easy to get drawn deeply into the various motives and secrets of each character because it’s so perfectly human for all of us to keep things hidden, even from those we love.
A thoughtfully plotted and skillfully characterized procedural mystery—and, it appears, the first in a new series.Pub Date: June 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-4211-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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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