An engaging mystery in a vivid setting with offbeat characters and a sense of fun.
Movie actors, mobsters, a suspicious death, and an unexpected romance enliven a Texas town.
In his uneven but enjoyable fourth installment of a mystery series, Rusz returns readers to Brewster County, Texas, and its growing cast of colorful characters headed by handsome Sheriff Clayton Shoot. Written in a lighter vein than previous volumes of the series, the book blends family secrets and a down-home version of Shakespearean romantic intrigue with a film crew and a questionable crime. Did wealthy ranch owner Tilda Quigg die from a fall down the stairs, or did her local political nemesis, the sheriff’s prickly, outspoken older sister, Beatrice, push her? Townsfolk are whispering. And why is Tilda’s live-in ranch manager, Buck Anderson, talking to seedy mobsters about plans to turn her huge spread into an adult entertainment destination? But the mystery (and its underwhelming midnovel surprise) takes a back seat to dueling matchmakers’ efforts to get Clayton and one-time girlfriend Claire Harp back together and to convince sharp-tongued Beatrice and equally brusque, retired Master Sgt. Benny Peyton that they belong together, à la Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.As in previous installments, apart from the series opener, The Window Trail (2018), perpetually blushing Clayton and indecisive English professor Claire’s cooling-to-moribund relationship is the least intriguing element. Readers will be much more excited about the hapless gangsters, bumptious Beatrice, and the attraction between the story’s most appealing characters: loner cowboy Loris Garrett and Belinda Briggs, a smitten young Hollywood actor. She and movie star Marlo Hansbury,who has Clayton in her sights, are among a trio of actors on hand for romance and hookups while in town shooting a film based on the recent homicide that occurred in the county (chronicled in The Lost Mine Trail, 2020). Throughout, the author once again demonstrates his series’ greatest strength: a deeply informed depiction of the sprawling Texas setting, from town and ranch life to rugged, two-rut roads and “gorges and canyons, plains and moonscapes, mountains pressing upon mountains, like they were sliding out of sight.”
An engaging mystery in a vivid setting with offbeat characters and a sense of fun.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 380
Publisher: manuscript
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.
Three woman who join together to rent a large space along the beach in Los Angeles for their stores—a gift shop, a bakery, and a bookstore—become fast friends as they each experience the highs, and lows, of love.
Bree is a friendly but standoffish bookstore owner who keeps everyone she knows at arm’s length, from guys she meets in bars to her friends. Mikki is a settled-in-her-routines divorced mother of two, happily a mom, gift-shop owner, and co-parent with her ex-husband, Perry. And Ashley is a young, very-much-in-love bakery owner specializing in muffins who devotes herself to giving back to the community through a nonprofit that helps community members develop skills and find jobs. When the women meet drooling over a boardwalk storefront that none of them can afford on her own, a plan is hatched to divide the space in three, and a friendship—and business partnership—is born. An impromptu celebration on the beach at sunset with champagne becomes a weekly touchpoint to their lives as they learn more about each other and themselves. Their friendship blossoms as they help each other, offering support, hard truths, and loving backup. Author Mallery has created a delightful story of friendship between three women that also offers a variety of love stories as they fall in love, make mistakes, and figure out how to be the best—albeit still flawed—versions of themselves. The men are similarly flawed and human. While the story comes down clearly on the side of all-encompassing love, Mallery has struck a careful balance: There is just enough sex to be spicy, just enough swearing to be naughty, and just enough heartbreak to avoid being cloying.
A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-778-38608-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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