A gripping thriller.
A Vietnam War veteran trying to leave his past behind finds himself being pulled into a murder investigation in Boyle’s mystery novel.
James Pinter was once a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division agent involved in investigating the My Lai Massacre. When James left the service, he became a truck driver, hoping to forget the horrors of war. His life takes a turn in 1979, when James becomes the sole caretaker of his estranged 14-year-old daughter, Molly, after her mother overdoses. An even more significant change occurs when Molly discovers the body of Linda Morris near a New Mexico gas station. The investigating state troopers chalk up Linda’s death as yet another Indigenous overdose case. James has doubts, but wants to purge his past as a cop (“this was not his case, he reminded himself again”). Still, he fears that Linda’s son, Adriel, may be in danger, so he heads for the Navajo Reservation, where Linda’s sister, Kay, convinces James to find her sister’s murderer. James quickly must determine the players on the reservation: He doesn’t know what to make of attractive, bullheaded reporter Gloria Fenwick, but tribal officer Wayne Tully becomes his close ally in an off-the-books hunt for Linda’s killer. Linda’s death appears to be tied to a potential disaster caused by a company exploiting tribal resources; James becomes a target himself, as many don’t want the white man looking into Navajo corruption. Boyle has created an intriguing modern hero in James—the re-entry of Molly into his life means that he has to stop running. One of the novel’s most enjoyable storylines charts how the pair grow closer as they investigate together. The strong supporting cast has intriguing secrets to be explored in future books in the Pinter P.I. series. The reservation itself becomes a character as Boyle deftly delves into pressing issues affecting Indigenous people; her narrative is a slow burn, building to a surprising conclusion.
A gripping thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781736607763
Page Count: 398
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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