Fans of this long-running series will love the latest adventure, replete with plenty of suspects and antique lore.
A New Hampshire antiques dealer buys a house, finds a treasure, and—wait for it—solves a murder.
While Josie Prescott’s waiting for the lovely home she’s bought in Rocky Point to be renovated, she gets a visit at her office from Celia Akins claiming that Maudie Wilson, the house's former owner and Celia's aunt, is sinking into dementia and has misplaced a trunk. Even though Josie’s already walked through the entire house, she agrees to bring Celia with her to look for it. Maudie’s other niece, Stacy Collins, comes to the house as well, letting herself in the front door with her own key, which puts Josie off. While measuring the rooms with help from handyman Tom Hill and his girlfriend, Julie, Josie finds the trunk hidden away. It contains letters, a Bible, and a box that seems to be made of silver and gold and encrusted with jewels and has a decidedly ugly cat statue inside. Refusing to release the box to either niece, Josie visits Maudie at her assisted living apartment, where she turns out to be mentally sharp and a delightful conversationalist. A few days later, Maudie asks Josie to do an appraisal of the objects, which she's thinking of selling. If they’re authentic, the box and the cat could be worth a fortune. Maudie isn’t in her apartment when Josie arrives to pick up the items, but Celia’s dead body is. Naturally, Josie, who’s helped the police several times before, is worried about Maudie’s whereabouts. Both the nieces have been in financial trouble, but the chances of a high-stakes payoff distribute suspicion even more generously.
Fans of this long-running series will love the latest adventure, replete with plenty of suspects and antique lore.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-25-024277-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
The lavish food descriptions and appended recipes are the best parts of this anemic mystery.
Christmas is coming, but so is trouble for South Lick, Indiana.
Robbie Jordan, owner and chief cook at Pans ’N Pancakes, returns from solving a murder in California just in time for the holiday rush, which is complicated more than most Christmastimes by a number of surprises that disrupt her circle of friends. First, her assistant, Danna Beedle, gets a visit from Marcus Vandemere, a young biracial man claiming to be her half brother, an assertion that thrills Danna despite the doubts of some friends and relatives. Next comes a fire that nearly destroys the home of anesthesiologist Dr. William Geller, a racist whose wife, Tina, reportedly left him years ago. When a skeleton turns up in the attic, the not-so-esteemed doctor has some explaining to do. Robbie’s nemesis, Detective Octavia Slade, who recently married Robbie’s former boyfriend, is more willing than usual to accept help from Robbie, who has a knack for finding things out. The next to die is Tina’s twin, Toni, who knew Marcus from karate classes. Toni’s husband is the prime suspect, but Robbie’s convinced the fatalities are connected. With help from her boyfriend and her network of friends, she attempts to clear things up before the killer spoils her holiday by adding her to his list.
The lavish food descriptions and appended recipes are the best parts of this anemic mystery.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2317-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Whimsy meets woodsy.
A mystery writer finds solace and murder in rural Oregon.
Mystery writer Tess Harrow is worried about her daughter, Gertrude. The usually resilient 14-year-old is stung by her father’s utter silence since his divorce from Tess. Fortunately, Tess has just the answer: She’ll take the feisty teen to an isolated cabin in the woods, far from Seattle coffee shops, the internet, or running water. Gertie’s reaction is predictable, but nothing else is. Shortly after their arrival, they hear a sudden boom, and water, fish, and body parts rain down from the sky. When he finally answers their distress call, Sheriff Victor Boyd tells them it’s probably “the Peabody boys.” Sure enough, Adam and Zach have been blast fishing with dynamite again, only this time, somebody stashed a corpse in the lake before their first kaboom. Boyd’s deputy Carl, who’s detailed to keep watch on Tess’ cabin, disappears, but Ivy, his female counterpart, is unfazed. What she wants most of all is for Tess to read the 1,000-page science-fiction adventure she’s written and shop it to her agent. In the meantime, Tess is fascinated with Boyd, a dead ringer for her own franchise hero, Detective Gonzales. If she can only tag along after Boyd while he’s trying to crack the case, she figures that her next novel, Fury in the Forest, will practically write itself. Boyd wants Tess dogging him about as much as he wants eczema, but eventually the two make their peace with the help of hipster librarian Nicki Nickerson, the third Peabody triplet, a man in a Bigfoot costume, and a roving flock of toucans.
Whimsy meets woodsy.Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72824-860-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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