A treat for Holmes enthusiasts looking for a brisk and satisfying holiday read.
A holiday-themed Sherlock Holmes mystery story, told in the classic style.
On Christmas morning in 1902, Dr. John Watson visits his old friend the consulting detective at 221B Baker St. to ask him to join him and his wife for Christmas dinner. Upon unwrapping a gift from Holmes—a bottle of Beaune, an elegant pinot noir—Watson discovers that the bottle’s contents have been emptied and replaced with a mysterious dark sand; the container’s also been stoppered with a handkerchief belonging to none other than the new king of England. Suspecting this to be the work of a new foe, Holmes immediately sets out to enlist the help of his brother, Mycroft, and Inspector Lestrade while keeping Watson in tow. They’re all determined to unravel the mystery—and keep the royal family from harm. Matthews published One Must Tell the Bees, another Sherlock Holmes novel, just last year. This one is written in the manner of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original tales and reads as a loving tribute, showcasing a mastery of characters and setting that indicates reverent study; for instance, narrator Watson, upon entering Holmes’ room, nostalgically describes its scent as “a unique mixture of noxious chemical vapours, the sooty fragrance of a coal fire in the grate, and the sulphurous aroma of gunpowder, with a foul hint of stale tobacco smoke.” The prose beautifully evokes Edwardian London at Christmastime, and the author makes sure that several familiar supporting characters, such as Kitty Winter and Shinwell Johnson, are present. The pacing is swift but even, with a twist at the end that’s sure to please genre fans. Most importantly, the author depicts the two main players authentically, showcasing Holmes’ quirks and Watson’s steadfast loyalty. This work isn’t treading any new ground, but fans of Doyle’s work will delight in its familiarity.
A treat for Holmes enthusiasts looking for a brisk and satisfying holiday read.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1736678350
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Not Making This Up LLC
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
It's hard to read but hard to look away from.
When two women who share a birthday meet, a journalist becomes the subject of her own true-crime mystery.
On their 45th birthdays, Josie Fair and Alix Summer meet at a pub and discover they were born not only on the same day, but in the same hospital. Alix is a successful journalist, and Josie convinces Alix that her story is worth telling: Josie met her husband when she was 13 and he was 40. “I can see that maybe I was being used, that maybe I was even being groomed?” she confesses to Alix. “But that feeling of being powerful, right at the start, when I was still in control. I miss that sometimes. I really do. And what I’d like, more than anything, is to get it back.” From this premise Alix creates a Netflix series, Hi! I’m Your Birthday Twin! which investigates Josie’s life as she reconciles what happened to her as a teen and seeks a new path. With the story unfinished, the narrative unfolds in the present tense, with prose that jingles like song lyrics: “He turns to see if the girl is behind him, and sees her wishy-washy, wavy-wavy, in double vision through the glass windows of the hotel.” Alix is both intrigued and repulsed by Josie, but she initially gives her the benefit of the doubt. After all, Alix’s husband, Nathan, has a drinking problem, and Alix knows what it’s like to be reluctant to leave a bad situation. But Josie seems more interested in being part of Alix’s seemingly glamorous life than she is in fixing her own, and when three people end up dead and Alix’s life is turned upside down, the evidence points to Josie—and turns the TV series into a murder mystery. Transcripts from Alix’s interviews alternate with the narrative, offering increasingly varied perspectives on Josie’s story as told by her neighbors, friends, and family members. With so many versions of events, the ending shatters, leaving readers to decide whose is the truth.
It's hard to read but hard to look away from.Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9781982179007
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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