Without hitting readers over the head (as she does with many of her characters), Saunders (The Curse of the Chocolate...
Poking into a family matter on behalf of the family in question throws a novice investigator into more of an investigation than she bargained for.
In the age of polite society, it’s impolite for a lady to act like a snoop. So when Laetitia Rodd, widowed in her early 50s by her beloved Matt, decides to become an informal private investigator, she lets her brother, Frederick, do the dirty work of finding her cases. After all, he's a top criminal barrister with a number of clients who could do with some discreet snooping. Fred contacts Letty about a promising case involving Sir James and Lady Calderstone; with names like that, both siblings reason that the case may lead to a big payday. Charles Calderstone has chosen a most inappropriate match, the mysterious widow Helen Orme. His parents are determined to learn the truth about Mrs. Orme, whose rather vague tales about her upbringing have left them skeptical. Letty, taken on as governess to the two younger Miss Calderstones, quickly uses her connections to get the information she needs, all the while keeping up appearances, and unearths the secrets in Mrs. Orme’s past—along with the truth about the Calderstones, which the family is unsuccessful in keeping from their perceptive guest. Suddenly, Letty is solving quite a few more mysteries than she signed on for. Let’s hope she’s paid accordingly.
Without hitting readers over the head (as she does with many of her characters), Saunders (The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix, 2015, etc.) launches a well-written series with all the hallmarks of a classic British cozy.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-63286-449-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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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