One last testament to the importance of community in maintaining the values that make America great, or at least human.
Gregor Demarkian’s last case.
Marta Warkowski has lived all her 72 years in a three-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia's Alder Arms despite the best efforts of Miguel Hernandez, the building’s super, to cajole her to leave or evict her. She knows all the dodges: Bring your rent check directly to Cary Alder’s office; make sure to get a receipt every month; and don’t let the bastards think they can get away with bullying you. About the only thing that will get her to move is death. Even when her body, stuffed into a plastic garbage bag, is tossed from a van onto the street, she’s not quite dead, only comatose. It’s Hernandez who’s dead, lying on the floor of her coveted apartment. Father Tibor Kasparian and 14-year-old Tommy Moradanyan, who are on the scene, are already preoccupied with their own problems, which range from the imprisonment of Tommy’s father, attorney Russ Donahue, to Tibor’s recent placement of Javier, an abandoned child, in foster care. Since Russ Donahue’s crimes include shooting Gregor Demarkian, who’s also agreed with his wife, Bennis Hannaford, to take in Javier, it’s only natural that the Philadelphia Police Department comes calling on Gregor for help. This time, though, the interest in the Armenian American Poirot’s sleuthing is outpaced by Haddam’s exposition of an all-too-plausibly widespread plot to smuggle undocumented people into the country and exploit them in every possible way. The result is a fitting sunset vehicle for Haddam, a pseudonym for Orania Papazoglou, who died in 2019 and is memorialized in a brief, glowing afterword.
One last testament to the importance of community in maintaining the values that make America great, or at least human.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-25-077049-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Aug. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
A pleasant addition to the longtime Library Lover’s Mysteries series.
A writer-in-residence program wreaks havoc at a suburban Connecticut library.
Library director Lindsey Norris is justifiably proud of the varied and popular special programs she and children’s librarian Beth Barker offer at the Briar Creek library. Seasonally themed children’s storytimes, technology workshops, and a “crafternoon” every Thursday give patrons more than just a chance to borrow books. But luring Helen Monroe, author of the acclaimed Mallory Quest mysteries, for an extended winter stint as writer-in-residence was a coup even for Lindsey. With her Louis Vuitton handbag and Ray-Ban sunglasses, Helen seems a bit much for Briar Creek, and Lindsey worries that the writer’s frosty demeanor may put some of the locals off. But out-of-towner Jackie Lewis exudes enthusiasm about Helen’s visit—so much enthusiasm, in fact, that Lindsey worries that she may have drawn a stalker to the library’s door. Meanwhile, book banner Betty Caruthers, who’s taken against Helen, vows to derail the whole residence project. It takes a while to determine which of these three toxic women will be the victim, let alone which will be her killer. Once the fatal blow falls, details show that the relationships among the trio are older and more complicated than they first seemed. Still, McKinlay seems more invested in engaging readers’ affinity for Lindsey, her staff, and her patrons than in asking them to figure out who killed whom and why.
A pleasant addition to the longtime Library Lover’s Mysteries series.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780593639368
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
Plenty of stressful pre-wedding jitters and hidden secrets add up to a tense but often humorous mystery.
A fudge-making, hotel-owning bride-to-be obsesses about wedding plans but never imagines murder will be involved.
Two weeks before her marriage to Mackinac Island lead police officer Rex Manning, Allie McMurphy’s still reading wedding books and magazines. That’s why she overhears Velma French and Myrtle Bautita’s tiff at the library over some craft books. Leaving the library, she finds Myrtle crying over the body of Velma, who’s been bludgeoned to death with a rock; when Velma’s ex-husband suddenly appears from around the corner of the building, he accuses Myrtle of the crime and kicks the rock into the nearby lake. Other witnesses might be distraught, but Allie, who’s had plenty of experience with murder, is more anxious about dealing with her mother, who’s arrived early with her own plans for the wedding. Allie and her best friend, Jenn, a wedding planner, have planned a large outdoor event with a charmingly simple wedding dress, but Allie’s wealthy mother wants a smaller wedding restricted to close friends and relatives at the island’s fanciest hotel and an extravagant gown for Allie. Furious with her mother and the snobbish relatives who arrived early, Allie tries to placate them by agreeing to hair and makeup appointments and wearing the expensive dresses on offer. Luckily, gathering her book club friends to help find the killer takes her mind off her real problems, and her dog, Mal, helps her uncover several clues. Every day brings a new fight with her mother, and her never having met Rex’s relatives turns out to be a major last-minute problem at the wedding, which almost doesn’t take place.
Plenty of stressful pre-wedding jitters and hidden secrets add up to a tense but often humorous mystery.Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781496743725
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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