A richly drawn, multipronged mystery set during a winter week in Maine.
Selbo’s tenacious Portland detective untangles a knot of related mysteries in this crime novel, the fourth in a series.
Dee Rommel is Portland, Maine’s newest minted private investigator. The former police officer with a distinctive prosthetic just passed the license exam, making her an even more valuable member of the team at G&Z Investigations. And just in time: The mysteries are piling up both at work and at home. For one, her mother Gayle, a top administrator at a prestigious cancer research institute, is being cyberbullied by one of her subordinates, but for some reason, she refuses to make a report. Then there’s Billy Payer, a murderer who once kidnapped Dee and is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence. He wants to meet, claiming he might have some information about an outstanding case. On top of that, while breaking up a domestic dispute in a restaurant parking lot on the way back from Boston, Dee has her luggage stolen by a violent woman who may be off her meds. Dee manages to get the bag back a few days later—only to discover that the thief, Gilli Wanz, has been brutally murdered. It turns out the unstable Gilli is a member of a farming family with deep ties to the area—and the owner of a block of dilapidated rental units in the midst of rapidly gentrifying Portland. Finally, Dee’s boss, detective Gordy Greer, has asked her to look into the death of a friend of his: local environmental activist Frank Croake, whose demise was initially ruled a suicide, though Gordy suspects foul play. Is there a connection between Gilli’s death and Frank’s? Dee’s work on both cases will force her to collaborate with her ex-boyfriend, current Portland police detective Robbie Donato, stirring up unwanted feelings along the way. Dee will need to keep her wits if she wants to solve the cases without losing any more limbs—and all during her birthday week, no less!
Selbo’s muscular prose captures both the particularities of the setting—snowy farms, locals suspicious of outsiders, seafood platters covered in Captain Mowatt’s Canceaux Sauce—and the guarded personality of her narrator. “I toss these observations around in my mind too often,” Dee acknowledges after a litany of shower-time thoughts about the nature of humanity and detective work; “nearly always as conversations between me and me because they take place when I’m home and alone.” Even so, there are satisfying moments of connection, or near connection, thanks to the large cast of characters, most of whom come with established histories. The author manages to deploy three books’ worth of backstory in a way that deepens this novel and helps the reader understand the way Dee operates. There is a vulnerability to the investigator—seen both in her romantic life and in her quest for a suitable prosthetic with which to run the Boston Marathon—rarely encountered in detective novels. Fans of the series will undoubtedly enjoy this volume, while new readers will be drawn in by the many intersecting plotlines and chilly, lived-in atmosphere.
A richly drawn, multipronged mystery set during a winter week in Maine.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781950627769
Page Count: 324
Publisher: Pandamoon Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A standout in the series.
The sixth adventure of Harvard symbology professor Robert Langdon explores the mysteries of human consciousness, the demonic projects of the CIA, and the city of Prague.
“Ladies and gentlemen...we are about to experience a sea change in our understanding of how the brain works, the nature of consciousness, and in fact…the very nature of reality itself.” But first—Langdon’s in love! Brown’s devoted readers first met brilliant noetic scientist Katherine Solomon in The Lost Symbol (2009); she’s back as a serious girlfriend, engaging the committed bachelor in a way not seen before. The book opens with the pair in a luxurious suite at the Four Seasons in Prague. It’s the night after Katherine has delivered the lecture quoted above, setting the theme for the novel, which features a plethora of real-life cases and anomalies that seem to support the notion that human consciousness is not localized inside the human skull. Brown’s talent for assembling research is also evident in this novel’s alter ego as a guidebook to Prague, whose history and attractions are described in great and glowing detail. Whether you appreciate or skim past the innumerable info dumps on these and other topics (Jewish folklore fans—the Golem is in the house!), it goes without saying that concision is not a goal in the Dan Brown editing process. Speaking of editing, the nearly 700-page book is dedicated to Brown’s editor, who seems to appear as a character—to put it in the italicized form used for Brownian insight, Jason Kaufman must be Jonas Faukman! A major subplot involves the theft of Katherine’s manuscript from the secure servers of Penguin Random House; the delightful Faukman continues to spout witty wisecracks even when blindfolded and hogtied. There’s no shortage of action, derring-do, explosions, high-tech torture machines, attempted and successful murders, and opportunities for split-second, last-minute escapes; good thing Langdon, this aging symbology wonk, never misses swimming his morning laps. Readers who are not already dyed-in-the-wool Langdonites may find themselves echoing the prof’s own conclusion regarding the credibility of all this paranormal hoo-ha: At some point, skepticism itself becomes irrational.
A standout in the series.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9780385546898
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Maybe not the most thrilling thriller, but the role of AI in coping with grief gives this novel pathos and interest.
A widowed and disgraced plastic surgeon is drawn into a Russian oligarch’s evil schemes.
Witherspoon’s adult fiction debut, co-authored with thrillermeister Coben, opens as heart surgery performed by Dr. Marc Adams in a North African refugee camp is interrupted by the explosive invasion of armed militants. It's the last we will see of Marc in this dimension. The next chapter jumps ahead one year to a ceremony at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where his widow, Maggie McCabe, is supposed to be presenting an award in honor of her mother. Miserable and anxious about appearing in public after having lost her medical license, she consults with her late husband on her phone—not via supernatural means, but using a "griefbot," an amazingly lifelike and functional AI app created by her genius sister, Sharon. Once the griefbot coaxes her to brave the sneering masses, she learns she’s been replaced on the podium anyway. But she runs into a former professor, a celebrity plastic surgeon, who requests a meeting with her at his office in New York and won’t take no for an answer. Next thing she knows, there’s $10 million in her bank account and she’s on a private plane heading to a palace outside Moscow where she’s been engaged to perform off-the-record surgery on billionaire Oleg Ragoravich (new face) and his girlfriend, Nadia (new boobs). And…we’re off. A whirl of surgeries, chases, and escapes ensues as Maggie gradually comes to understand who these people are and what they have in mind for her, and how it connects to Marc and their missing friend and business partner, Trace Packer. She is aided by her delightful father-in-law, Porkchop, owner of a biker bar in New York City and a very handy guy to have on your team if you've run afoul of an international criminal organization. From the palace in Rublevka the action moves to Dubai and then Bordeaux, climaxing in a high-stakes illegal heart transplant. But wait—is Marc really dead? What happened to Trace? Who is Nadia really? Though these smoldering questions don’t quite catch fire, it's a good first try for Witherspoon.
Maybe not the most thrilling thriller, but the role of AI in coping with grief gives this novel pathos and interest.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781538774700
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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