A gamified reading experience that effectively pulls the reader into the story.
In Lamar’s formally playful mystery novel, the reader is the private investigator in a case of attempted murder.
This thriller combines a murder mystery with a puzzle game, positioning the reader as the investigator. Provided with multiple case files presented in a specific order, readers are called to solve the mystery as they sift through the evidence. These case files take the forms of diagrams, letters, diary entries, and police interviews, each filled with potential clues as to the culprit and motives behind the mysteries presented in the novel. The primary mystery, set in 2023, concerns the disappearance of Sillian Parks. Much of this evidence is relayed by Jane Parks, Sillian’s twin sister. Jane takes the narrative reins for this portion of the novel, though she proves to not be the most reliable of narrators. This is one of the novel’s triumphs: Simple obfuscation owing to the narrative’s point of view works wonders in keeping the mystery alive, even as clues are not-so-subtly revealed. The book is divided into 10 “Case Files,” which are further divided into smaller pieces of evidence. Most of the files conclude with hints for the reader to consider about the clues provided throughout, and the head detective delivers larger updates at some crucial points. Apart from Jane’s portions of the narrative, the most plentiful evidence comes from the diary of Mary Sophomore, who famously disappeared, along with her twin sister and their husbands, in the 1940s. This thread provides a parallel narrative to the twins in the present day, and their connection becomes integral to solving the mystery. The historical account is the most engaging element of the novel, as Lamar’s prose displays delightful wit in these passages (“next to the abandoned body that the ants had already found, I turned to face her and speak in a hushed tone. ‘I’m forever in debt. Thank you.’ She placed her hand on the car’s door handle. ‘Yes, you are’”). All of characters read as white, but there is some diversity in sexual orientation.
A gamified reading experience that effectively pulls the reader into the story.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9798218323851
Page Count: 378
Publisher: Experiment 42
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.
Lt. Eve Dallas’ 63rd futuristic case is less a whodunit than a manhunt for an unusually sympathetic killer.
Thirteen years ago, way back in 2048, scientific genius Steve Redman—father of the Banner-Wyst corporation’s Rainmaker Project—narrowly escaped death in a gas explosion that killed his pregnant wife and infant son and 200 other residents of their New York City apartment building the night before he planned to report his suspicions about the company to the FBI. Now the bill is coming due for Banner-Wyst. The first death to be discovered is that of Lawrence Chu, Redman’s colleague and trusted friend, whose tenure as director of bioengineering science ends when he’s beaten to death. For quite a while, Dallas and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, know less about this mystery than their readers do. But when Ezra Dent, a consultant to Banner-Wyst who worked with Redman and Chu back in the day, is murdered in exactly the same ferocious way, Dallas and Peabody, with help from Roarke, Dallas’ tech-billionaire husband, promptly put the pieces together and determine who they’re looking for. The search for Redman, who went AWOL from his hospital bed without a trace six years ago, has its own challenges. So does Dallas’ attempt to get cooperation from partners Calvin Banner and Jacob Wyst, who are clearly in the crosshairs of a killer who seems a lot less monstrous than they are. If the breaks in the case are suspiciously convenient in arriving, readers can pride themselves on taking sides against a mega-corporation whose self-avowed ecological saintliness is undermined by its leaders’ underhanded dealing.
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414564
Page Count: 368
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
The delightful debut of a classic, prolific detective.
It takes a quirky sleuth to solve a baffling closed-door murder.
The author himself or, more accurately, some version of him, walks the reader through a “gruesome murder” that occurred in a rural farming village. At the center of the crime is the wealthy Ichiyanagi family, including the widow Itoko and her five children. The “heinous crime” occurs in the evening after the festive wedding of eldest son Kenzo to schoolteacher Katsuko. Yokomizo, part narrator and part raconteur, liberally shares digressions such as the fact that his favorite British author is A.A. Milne, who wrote The Red House Mystery as well as the books about Winnie-the-Pooh. Written in 1946 but set in 1937 before the devastation of World War II, this is the first novel featuring Kosuke Kindaichi, the legendary detective who appeared in more than 70 stories by Yokomizo. If Yokomizo is the Japanese Agatha Christie, Kindaichi may seem the Japanese Hercule Poirot—although actually, given his unkempt hair and apparently distracted manner, he’s more a cross between Poirot and Columbo. Shrewdly, his entrance is delayed until midway through the novel, after the police have stalled and both the family and the reader are anxious for a solution. The narrator’s garrulous charm, in a mystery long on logistics and forensic clues but short on detailed character portraits or extended interactions, is a key to the novel’s success, leavening the more intricate pieces of the puzzle. Armchair detectives will welcome the helpful character list that precedes the story.
The delightful debut of a classic, prolific detective.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9781805336549
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
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