Putnam combines the historical fact of a lifelong friendship with lively fiction in a debut set on the edge of the American...
A lovesick storekeeper and a newly minted Illinois lawyer pool their talents in a murder case.
In 1837, the new state capitol building in Springfield is only a cornerstone, and housing is in such short supply that Joshua Speed reluctantly agrees to share not just the room over his store, but also his bed with a newcomer to town. Former flatboat pilot/surveyor/postmaster/storekeeper Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as a lawyer about half an hour before he meets Speed, who, like Lincoln, is Kentucky-born but, unlike him, is a wealthy plantation-owning judge’s son who decided to go into business instead of the law. As Lincoln takes on his first major client, Dr. Allan Patterson, in a real estate case, the 22-year-old Joshua still mourns the end of his relationship with Rebecca Harriman, an older widow who owns a store in a small frontier settlement. She broke off the affair because, despite their discretion, she was afraid for her reputation. She has even more to fear after she rescues her niece and nephew, Lilly and Jesse Walker, from a grim poorhouse. She’s overheard arguing with Lilly, who’s found with a knife in her neck in Rebecca’s hay barn, a knife whose twin is hidden on the premises. Then Jesse disappears, and an even more shocking turn puts Dr. Patterson in the defendant’s seat for murder. Joshua and his feisty sister try to help Lincoln make a case against other possible suspects—a German traveler, for instance, or Patterson’s adversary in the land speculation case, the doctor's former brother-in-law, who’s still holding a grudge because his sister died mysteriously years ago. Desperation forces Lincoln to propose an even bolder defense strategy that turns out to be unexpectedly relevant.
Putnam combines the historical fact of a lifelong friendship with lively fiction in a debut set on the edge of the American frontier.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62953-777-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
O'Brien proves to be the Oliver Stone of literature, reiterating the same Vietnam stories endlessly without adding any insight. Politician John Wade has just lost an election, and he and his wife, Kathy, have retired to a lakeside cabin to plan their future when she suddenly disappears. O'Brien manages to stretch out this simple premise by sticking in chapters consisting of quotes from various sources (both actual and fictional) that relate to John and Kathy. An unnamed author — an irritating device that recalls the better-handled but still imperfect "Tim O'Brien" narrator of The Things They Carried (1990) — also includes lengthy footnotes about his own experiences in Vietnam. While the sections covering John in the third person are dry, these first-person footnotes are unbearable. O'Brien uses a coy tone (it's as though he's constantly whispering "Ooooh, spooky!"), but there is no suspense: The reader is acquainted with Kathy for only a few pages before her disappearance, so it's impossible to work up any interest in her fate. The same could be said of John, even though he is the focus of the book. Flashbacks and quotes reveal that John was present at the infamous Thuan Yen massacre (for those too thick-headed to understand the connection to My Lai, O'Brien includes numerous real-life references). The symbolism here is beyond cloying. As a child John liked to perform magic tricks, and he was subsequently nicknamed "Sorcerer" by his fellow soldiers — he could make things disappear, get it? John has been troubled for some time. He used to spy on Kathy when they were in college, and his father's habit of calling the chubby boy "Jiggling John" apparently wounded him. All of this is awkwardly uncovered through a pretentious structure that cannot disguise the fact that there is no story here. Sinks like a stone.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 061870986X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
Three quick, enjoyable reads to get you in a murderous Christmas spirit.
Three familiar sleuths each get a turn in this trio of cozy Christmas mysteries.
First, O’Connor (Murder in Galway, 2019, etc.) dives into Siobhán O’Sullivan’s past. Just graduated from the Garda College and not due to report for duty until the New Year, she’s busy preparing for Christmas when she sees a sign advertising a missing dog and links the disappearance to that of her own family dog and others around town. When the town Santy, Paddy O’Shea, is discovered floating dead in a dunk tank he’s filled with hot chocolate, all the missing dogs are also found, waiting in vain to be part of his extravagant show. Now Siobhán must help catch Santy's killer. Next up, Day (Strangled Eggs and Ham, 2019, etc.) presents South Lick, Indiana, cafe/country store owner Robbie Jordan, whose boyfriend Abe’s father, Howard O’Neill, has secretly acquired Cocoa, a rescued Lab puppy, as a Christmas gift for Abe’s son, Sean. When Howard’s business associate, Jed Greenberg, is found dead on an icy sidewalk, tangled in Cocoa’s leash, it turns out to be murder. Though Jed had plenty of enemies, Howard is a particularly choice suspect because he’d just learned that Jed had cheated him in a business deal. In the final tale, Erickson (Death by Café Mocha, 2019, etc.) features cafe/bookstore owner Krissy Hancock, a locally renowned sleuth who reluctantly accompanies her friend Rita Jablonski to a remote warehouse, where Lewis Coates, whose attention to detail is obsessive, has installed an escape room. Each member of the small group is given their own room whose door code they must determine from cryptic clues. They all manage to escape to a large locked room where they find the corpse of Coates. A prick Krissy finds on his finger and traces to a trick mug strongly suggests that one of the players is also a killer.
Three quick, enjoyable reads to get you in a murderous Christmas spirit.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2360-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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