Stellar characters enhance this leisurely but engrossing mystery.
A former journalist’s investigation into fraud becomes a murder case in this debut novel.
At his favorite North Carolina tavern, Lassie James spots his old flame for the first time in 30 years—in the flesh, that is. The ex-reporter has seen plenty of Dr. Holly “Fats” Pike in the media. She’s a successful scientist best known for developing a cure for baldness. Now, she needs Lassie’s help; anonymous emails claim a researcher at her company is fraudulently tweaking its findings. Lassie, now a freelance writer/lyricist, can’t say no to Fats, especially since the gig pays $5 million. He uses his investigative journalist skills to peruse the company’s employee records. Before he makes much progress, one of Lassie’s old friends from the University of North Carolina winds up a murder victim. Though it seems unrelated to the fraud investigation, it turns out his friend may have had information on the anonymous emailer. Two more deaths ensue, which authorities suggest link to the first homicide. Lassie, meanwhile, looks for connections between a researcher cooking numbers and someone committing murder, which may point him directly to a killer. In Bare’s tale, the protagonist’s laid-back, first-person narration creates a measured pace. For example, his investigation primarily consists of whittling 100,000-plus employees down to a single fraudster, a methodology he unnecessarily explains three times. Nevertheless, Lassie regularly offers tidbits of insight; marrying someone, he concludes, isn’t about just finding the right person, but the ideal time as well. In addition, intriguing characters make for a consistently absorbing story. Most notable is Lassie’s tavern-owner friend, who finds an ingenious way to sell the worthless land he’s inherited. By the final act, Lassie unravels the mystery, leading to the amateur sleuth’s gratifying elucidation that checks off all the questions. His expressive song lyrics (some inspired by Fats) open each chapter in snippets and appear in full at the book’s end.
Stellar characters enhance this leisurely but engrossing mystery.Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73498-840-6
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Wisdom House Books
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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