A whimsical, offbeat ride through a quirky fictional universe that provides some genuine chuckles.
A cozy mystery that’s set in the town of Liberality Hill, in which dogs and cats live in relative harmony—and the chief police inspector is a small Norwich terrier.
Inspector Nubbs—so named because his tail was cropped when he was a puppy—is enjoying a relaxing morning in the park when he receives a call from Deputy Officer Jerry Lee “J.L.” Dempsey, informing him that there’s been a robbery at Sassy’s Boutique. He finishes his dog biscuit, hops on his motorbike, and heads over to contend with the store’s aggravated proprietor, Sassy Marie, a “gray-haired Maine Coon cat, with black stripes extending down both sides of her face.” J.L., a well-meaning but accident-prone chow/rough collie mix, and Officer Shadow, a black Labrador retriever/German shepherd mix, are processing the crime scene. Before long, Nubbs deduces that only one item of importance is missing: a large supply of catnip, which is a controlled substance. Sassy can legally purchase only eight grams per month to make her popular feline perfumes and colognes, but she confesses to recently buying 30 on the black market. The investigation leads Nubbs and his team to Samson LeRoy, a tough feline and former welterweight boxer, and his Doberman sidekick, Sully. Hester (The Obituary Murder, 2019, etc.) takes a break from his human-populated Jonas Lauer mystery series to indulge in a humorous, Disney-esque bit of fancy. The character-driven caper is somewhat light on mystery, although readers will still receive some surprises along the way. Nubbs, the tale’s narrator, is a clever and delightful lead who lives with his adopted mother—Bossy Mae Waddles, an aging feline who rescued him when he was an abandoned pup. The animals may talk, drive cars, and conduct business like human beings, but they also display enough species-specific attributes to make readers smile. For example, when nervous, the felines purr frantically, and canines swish their tails. Overall, Hester’s tale is a generally amusing distraction, and one dangling plot thread leaves open possibilities for a sequel.
A whimsical, offbeat ride through a quirky fictional universe that provides some genuine chuckles.Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-69392-903-8
Page Count: 175
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As Jessie Burlingame lies handcuffed to her bed in Gerald's Game (p. 487), she recalls how, on the clay 30 years ago that her dad molested her, she had a vision of a woman—a murderer?—at a well King explains that vision here: Dolores Claiborne is the woman, and her story of how she killed her husband, and the consequences, proves a seductively suspenseful, if quieter, complement to Jessie's shriek-lest of a tale. The garotte-tight Gerald's Game is one of King's most stylish novels, and the Maine author flexes more stylistic muscle here, having feisty Dolores tell her tale in a nonstop monologue, rich in Down East dialect, that steadily gathers force. Dolores, 65, is speaking to Andy Bissette, sheriff of the island offshore Maine where she's lived her life, most of it as housekeeper for Vera Donovan, a wealthy "bitch." We soon learn that Dolores has a confession to make—in her own sweet time ("I feel a draft in here, Andy. Might go away if you shutcha goddamn trap"). Amidst details—often crudely funny—of her power-plays with Vera, and of her early life, we learn how, years back, Dolores's rotten husband began molesting their teenaged daughter, then stole her college funds. Dolores's retribution—the killing—forms the story's centerpiece, and, taking place on the same day that Jessie's dad molested her, forges the psychic bond—neither elaborated on nor explained—between the two women. It's Dolores's final years with Vera, though, and the bitter manner of Vera's death, that have brought Dolores to the sheriff—and that ultimately transform this, like Gerald's Game, into a devastating tale of heroism in the face of life's suffering. Without the flash and twisted fun of Gerald's Game, this may not sell as well (despite a 1.5 million first printing); but Dolores is a brilliantly realized character, and her struggles will hook readers inexorably.
Pub Date: Dec. 7, 1992
ISBN: 0451177096
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
Picoult’s strengths are evident in her exhaustively researched and gut-wrenching demonstration of OI’s devastating effects...
In another issue-driven novel, Picoult (Change of Heart, 2008, etc.) explores the impact of “wrongful birth” litigation on an ordinary New Hampshire family.
Charlotte O’Keefe, a prominent pastry chef, was thrilled when she conceived at age 38 without resorting to fertility treatments. Although she has a daughter, Amelia, by a previous relationship, she and her new husband, police officer Sean, wanted a child of their own. Charlotte’s best friend Piper unwisely agrees to be her OB-GYN. Eighteen weeks into the pregnancy, during a routine ultrasound, Piper, looking for signs of possible Down syndrome, discounts the import of the fetus’s unusually transparent cranium. At 27 weeks, another ultrasound reveals that Charlotte’s daughter has sustained several fractures in utero, a sign that she suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare congenital defect that causes brittle bones and severe complications (including scoliosis, respiratory problems and years of costly orthopedic interventions). Now age six, Willow, still toddler-sized, cannot walk, play or even turn over in bed without risking a compound fracture. Charlotte abandoned her career to care for Willow 24/7. Although Willow is precocious intellectually and for the most part a joy to be around, her illness is, inarguably, a drain on family finances and emotions. After a vacation at Disney World goes horribly awry, the O’Keefes spiral apart. Charlotte decides to file a wrongful-birth lawsuit against Piper. The proceeds from the lawsuit, she rationalizes, would provide the quality of lifetime care Willow needs, even if suing amounts to betrayal. Sean is appalled by the implications of the lawsuit: that Willow should never have been born, and that Charlotte, if properly cautioned, would have contemplated abortion. Amelia, once a normal teen, becomes a bulimic, self-mutilating shoplifter.
Picoult’s strengths are evident in her exhaustively researched and gut-wrenching demonstration of OI’s devastating effects and the impact of a child’s disability on a sibling. However, too often characterization takes a back seat to polemic. Worse, the central moral quandary is undermined by an overly pat resolution.Pub Date: March 3, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7432-9641-0
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2009
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