Guest’s fifth adventure (Troubled Bones, 2011, etc.) again provides a lively tale of historical interest smoothly combined...
Despite being disgraced and living by his wits, a former knight cannot forget his vows.
Crispin Guest, aka the Tracker, is wearily returning home when he sees someone falling from the London Bridge. His plunge into the icy waters is to no avail, for the man was dead before he hit the water. Although many claim that the armorer was a suicide, Guest thinks otherwise and, with help from his loyal servant and assistant, Jack, is soon embroiled in the man’s dubious affairs. The beautiful Anabel Coterel claims to have been the armourer’s betrothed. Though at first she too says his death was suicide, she changes her mind and begs Guest to help her and her father, an often-inebriated tailor, recover their stolen rent money before they’re turned out of their house. A visit from Sir Thomas Saunfayl drags Guest deeper into a dangerous situation. Saunfayl, a friend from Guest’s former chivalric life, is accused of deserting and will die unless he can prevail in a jousting competition. Desperate to ensure his victory, he has paid a fortune to procure the Spear of Longinus, a religious relic he believes will give him that power—a relic apparently stolen from the armorer, who was acting as a go-between. When Geoffrey Chaucer, another friend from the past, arrives on the scene searching for the mysterious spear and Guest is harassed by knights loyal to the earl of Suffolk, King Richard’s chancellor, Guest wonders if his search for the relic and the murderer will be his last case.
Guest’s fifth adventure (Troubled Bones, 2011, etc.) again provides a lively tale of historical interest smoothly combined with a worthy mystery.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-250-00018-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 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
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