A complex but diverting whodunit.
In this thriller, a British author realizes that some recent homicides are comparable to the ones in his latest novel.
Kenneth Sorin is a former medicinal chemistry research scientist who’s successfully transitioned to a writing career. He consequently has no time to work as an “amateur detective” and assist his Uncle Ash, an inspector. But Ash’s newest case has all the makings of a fictional murder mystery. A serial killer is murdering local female university students with a modus operandi that includes removing the left eye and replacing it with an emerald. In fact, these homicides share similarities with Kenneth’s manuscript, tentatively titled Mr. Maniac, including that the fictional victims’ initials in the book are the same as those of the dead students. A doctor diagnosed Kenneth with schizoid personality disorder at the age of 17. Unlike schizophrenia, people with this disorder don’t lose touch with reality. Still, after Kenneth receives a phone call from a woman who, it turns out, died a decade ago, he suspects that he actually may be the killer. He searches for patterns among the homicides and victims to unmask the true murderer and soon believes someone is watching him or possibly breaking into his house. Fundin’s (Disorder, 2019) entertaining tale offers several intriguing subplots. One features store owner Philip Worthington, a suspect in at least two of the murders, whose wife, Amy, has caught on to his philandering. These storylines help maintain a persistent momentum as well as bolster the mystery, especially when a subplot’s relevance to the main tale isn’t immediately apparent. Nice touches along the way enliven the story: Kenneth’s romantic interest, Jeanne Russell, is harboring a secret, and he has dealings with SCDX, an enigmatic police branch that’s so covert no one knows the acronym’s meaning. As the narrative advances, the protagonist puts together a theory on the killer’s method that’s surprisingly complicated. This fuels a final act that’s primarily Kenneth’s elucidations, and though it runs too long, it’s comprehensible and ultimately satisfying.
A complex but diverting whodunit.Pub Date: Nov. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9999817-2-3
Page Count: 364
Publisher: Asioni Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters...
Female rivalry is again the main preoccupation of Hannah’s latest Pacific Northwest sob saga (Firefly Lane, 2008, etc.).
At Water’s Edge, the family seat overlooking Hood Canal, Vivi Ann, youngest and prettiest of the Grey sisters and a champion horsewoman, has persuaded embittered patriarch Henry to turn the tumbledown ranch into a Western-style equestrian arena. Eldest sister Winona, a respected lawyer in the nearby village of Oyster Shores, hires taciturn ranch hand Dallas Raintree, a half-Native American. Middle sister Aurora, stay-at-home mother of twins, languishes in a dull marriage. Winona, overweight since adolescence, envies Vivi, whose looks get her everything she wants, especially men. Indeed, Winona’s childhood crush Luke recently proposed to Vivi. Despite Aurora’s urging (her principal role is as sisterly referee), Winona won’t tell Vivi she loves Luke. Yearning for Dallas, Vivi stands up Luke to fall into bed with the enigmatic, tattooed cowboy. Winona snitches to Luke: engagement off. Vivi marries Dallas over Henry’s objections. The love-match triumphs, and Dallas, though scarred by child abuse, is an exemplary father to son Noah. One Christmas Eve, the town floozy is raped and murdered. An eyewitness and forensic evidence incriminate Dallas. Winona refuses to represent him, consigning him to the inept services of a public defender. After a guilty verdict, he’s sentenced to life without parole. A decade later, Winona has reached an uneasy truce with Vivi, who’s still pining for Dallas. Noah is a sullen teen, Aurora a brittle but resigned divorcée. Noah learns about the Seattle Innocence Project. Could modern DNA testing methods exonerate Dallas? Will Aunt Winona redeem herself by reopening the case? The outcome, while predictable, is achieved with more suspense and less sentimental histrionics than usual for Hannah.
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters and understanding of family dynamics.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-36410-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2008
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.
A very funny novel about the survivor of a childhood trauma.
At 29, Eleanor Oliphant has built an utterly solitary life that almost works. During the week, she toils in an office—don’t inquire further; in almost eight years no one has—and from Friday to Monday she makes the time go by with pizza and booze. Enlivening this spare existence is a constant inner monologue that is cranky, hilarious, deadpan, and irresistible. Eleanor Oliphant has something to say about everything. Riding the train, she comments on the automated announcements: “I wondered at whom these pearls of wisdom were aimed; some passing extraterrestrial, perhaps, or a yak herder from Ulan Bator who had trekked across the steppes, sailed the North Sea, and found himself on the Glasgow-Edinburgh service with literally no prior experience of mechanized transport to call upon.” Eleanor herself might as well be from Ulan Bator—she’s never had a manicure or a haircut, worn high heels, had anyone visit her apartment, or even had a friend. After a mysterious event in her childhood that left half her face badly scarred, she was raised in foster care, spent her college years in an abusive relationship, and is now, as the title states, perfectly fine. Her extreme social awkwardness has made her the butt of nasty jokes among her colleagues, which don’t seem to bother her much, though one notices she is stockpiling painkillers and becoming increasingly obsessed with an unrealistic crush on a local musician. Eleanor’s life begins to change when Raymond, a goofy guy from the IT department, takes her for a potential friend, not a freak of nature. As if he were luring a feral animal from its hiding place with a bit of cheese, he gradually brings Eleanor out of her shell. Then it turns out that shell was serving a purpose.
Honeyman’s endearing debut is part comic novel, part emotional thriller, and part love story.Pub Date: May 9, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2068-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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