A captivating depiction of an elusive quest.
A fan who interacted with a novelist just before the latter was found dead seeks to find out what happened 10 years later in Upton’s mystery novel.
Geneva Finch, 20, is on the beach near the festival celebrating novelist Mira Wallacz, who has just gone missing. She overhears Mira’s unauthorized biographer, a purported longtime friend, and a jealous-seeming literary rival discussing Mira; one comments that she “stirred a lot of unconscious anger.” Geneva, who came to the conference due to an affinity for Mira’s “lurid fairy tales for adults,” later wanders into the nearby woods and spots Mira, yet the latter refuses to return to the festival despite Geneva’s sense of danger. The narrative then jumps ahead 10 years, and readers learn that Mira was found dead, killed by falling or thrown rocks shortly after Geneva left her (“Most likely Mira Wallacz died in a freak accident. Falling rocks. A simple explanation exists for most things. That made sense, didn’t it?”). At a party, Geneva meets and dances with Thom, whom she later learns is the priest who inherited Mira’s estate, subsequently left the priesthood, and now writes poetry. Geneva tracks down Thom at a poetry workshop and convinces him to attend an upcoming conference commemorating Mira and help interview its attendees, including Mira’s agent. Geneva discovers that many people had possible motives to kill the author—including Thom (“It’s always about the one with the quirkiest motive in Mira’s novels. That’s where I’ll look”). Upton’s novel operates quite effectively as an Agatha Christie–like whodunit, complete with a lineup of colorful suspects and a twisty conclusion. The narrative is further enriched by the author’s musings upon the illusory aspects of real life and fiction—Geneva reflects that “the past ten years had been a long dream of guilt, a repetitive dream, and here was a way to rupture the dream.”
Pub Date: May 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781963846218
Page Count: 242
Publisher: Sagging Meniscus Press
Review Posted Online: April 22, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Breezy, entertaining characters and a cheeky premise fall prey to too much explanation and an unlikely climax.
An aspiring mystery writer sets out to solve her great-aunt’s murder and inherit an estate.
Twenty-five-year-old Annie Adams has never met her great-aunt Frances, who prefers her small village to busy London. But when a mysterious letter arrives instructing Annie to come to Castle Knoll in Dorset to meet Frances and discuss her role as sole beneficiary of her great-aunt’s estate, Annie can’t resist. Unfortunately, she arrives to find Frances’ worst fears have come true: The elderly woman—who’s been haunted for decades by a fortuneteller’s prediction that this will happen—has been murdered, and her will dictates that she will leave her entire estate to Annie, but only if Annie solves her killing. It’s a cheeky if not exactly believable premise, especially since the local police don’t seem terribly opposed to it. Annie herself is an engaging presence, if a little too blind to the fact that she could be on the killer’s to-do list. Her roll call of suspects is pleasingly long, including but not limited to the local vicar, a one-time paramour of her great-aunt’s; a gardener who grows a lot more than flowers; shady developers and suspicious friends from Frances’ past; and Saxon, Annie’s crafty rival, who inherits the estate himself if he manages to solve the case first. Annie pieces together clues through readings of Frances’ journal, but the story eventually runs aground on the twin rocks of too much explanation and a flimsy climax. Cute dialogue gives way to lengthy exposition, and by the time Frances’ killer is revealed you may well be ready to leave Annie, Dorset, and Castle Knoll behind for the firmer ground of reality. Fans of cozy mysteries are likely to be more forgiving, but if you cast a skeptical eye toward amateur sleuths, this novel won’t change your mind about them.
Breezy, entertaining characters and a cheeky premise fall prey to too much explanation and an unlikely climax.Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593474013
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
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