As usual, Joanna’s domestic problems are more interesting than her caseload. This time, however, fans of the franchise will...
No matter how hard she tries to keep her 15th case strictly professional, Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady (Damage Control, 2008, etc.) just can’t keep it all from coming back on, and to, her family.
Joanna’s latest case begins on an uncomfortably intimate note with a phone call from her daughter Jenny, 16, saying that she’s found a body while she was out riding her horse up High Lonesome Road. And not just any body: The bullet-riddled corpse, already savaged by buzzards and coyotes, is that of Debra Highsmith, the principal of Jenny’s high school. To Joanna’s consternation, Marty Pembroke, a student who protested his suspension by adorning his Facebook page with a photo of Debra labeled, “DIE, BITCH!,” has been able to post a photo of her corpse tagged “BITCH DIES” because Jenny snapped it while waiting for Joanna and sent it to Cassie Parks, the best bud who’d been snubbing her, and Cassie sent it to everyone else in Arizona. How can Joanna ask her archenemy, columnist Marliss Shackleford, to keep the victim’s identity confidential till her next of kin is notified when (a) her own daughter has been responsible for plastering the image all over the Web and (b) Debra doesn’t seem to have any next of kin—her emergency contact is her secretary, Abby Holder, and she’s left no paper trail to speak of in her time on earth? Another murder in an unexpected venue will shed so much light on the case that Joanna will confront the forgettable killer with 60 pages still to go. It’s not until after the perp’s arrest that the tale really hits its stride, with a series of revelations that turn most of the story into so much prologue.
As usual, Joanna’s domestic problems are more interesting than her caseload. This time, however, fans of the franchise will be rewarded by seeing the two come together with a satisfying jolt.Pub Date: July 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173116-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2012
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
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
