Suspects and motives abound in this laugh-out-loud mystery.
Haunted houses, bickering spouses, and murder mix in this Halloween treat.
Poppy McAllister runs the Butterfly Wings, a B&B in Cape May, New Jersey, with the dubious help of her Aunt Ginny, snarky cook Joanne Junk, and actor/housekeeper Kenny Love. Poppy’s history of finding dead bodies and helping to solve the mysteries behind them has given her a reputation as a murder magnet. The B&B is participating in the town’s Halloween Week Package, which includes scavenger hunts and haunted dinner tours. The guests are a mixed bag of paranormal researchers, bickering college professors, and students. A colander-wearing pet psychic who translates Poppy’s cat Figaro’s thoughts and a tabloid journalist hoping to catch Poppy in lies only add to her angst. On top of it all, her boyfriend Gia’s mother, who hates her, has broken her hip, and their restaurant, Mia Famiglia, will be forced to close temporarily if Poppy can’t pitch in to help. Many of Poppy’s guests are interested in handsome professor Simon Beck and Brooklyn, his much younger wife. So when Simon drops dead in his tiramisu, there’s no dearth of suspects. Poppy is forced to investigate by Amber Fenton, her high school nemesis, now a police officer. Perfectly placed to spy on her guests, Poppy quickly learns that just about everyone either loved or hated Simon, who had a record of dallying with his students and stealing their research. Although he was poisoned with eyedrops, the police close Poppy’s kitchen, forcing her to work nonstop to cook at the Italian restaurant while she solves the case.
Suspects and motives abound in this laugh-out-loud mystery.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781496733153
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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