The second case from Eldridge (Assassins, 2016) features colorful characters, crisp prose, and interesting nuggets of...
In order to save the woman he loves from a charge of capital murder, must a veteran detective reveal their affair?
London, November 1921. DCI Paul Stark is in bed with his secret ladylove, Amelia Fairfax, when she receives a call informing her that her ex-husband, the esteemed Lord Fairfax, has been murdered along with a guest, mysterious American Carl Adams. Stark’s ethical dilemma is made no easier by an anonymous letter he receives identifying Amelia as the killer. Both men were poisoned, and Stark’s superior at Scotland Yard, DCS Benson, points out that poison is traditionally a woman’s weapon. Should Stark provide Amelia with an alibi that would vindicate her while exposing her to social ostracism? The secretary of state, who happens to be Winston Churchill, presses for a quick solution to the case. Deciding that he can’t keep the affair a secret, Stark ends his affair with Amelia for the duration of the case. Meanwhile, Stark’s trusted sidekick, DS Danvers, learns more about sketchy Carl Adams from his own mother, of all people. Stark and Danvers question Noël Coward in his dressing room. Both interviews implicate flashy American movie mogul Edgar Cavendish, who visits Stark at Scotland Yard and dismisses the notion that Adams was the target. It’s all quite the tangled web: catching the killer is only the first step in exposing a dangerous conspiracy.
The second case from Eldridge (Assassins, 2016) features colorful characters, crisp prose, and interesting nuggets of history.Pub Date: May 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78029-095-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Creme de la Crime
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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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