A prime character-driven procedural with the added allure of Iceland.
A Buffalo cop adds yet another bizarre case to her string of bad-luck investigations.
Police detective Lauren Riley’s badly injured partner, Shane Reese (The Murder Book, 2019, etc.), is recovering in Lauren’s home while she’s transferred from working cold cases to Homicide till he returns. Lauren’s stuck working with a detective soon to retire in what looks to become the tricky case of Gunnar Jonsson, from Reykjavik, found beaten to death with a brick near his upscale hotel. Although Buffalo has its share of murders, few of the victims are foreign citizens, so the FBI quickly becomes involved. A search of Jonsson’s room reveals DNA test results that explain his reason for visiting Buffalo: his discovery of the father he never knew. The product of a one-night stand, Gunnar has a half brother in Iceland and two newly discovered American half siblings, Brooklyn and Ryan, whose seriously ill father, John Hudson, had recently won a multimillion-dollar settlement that gives all his relatives a very good motive for murder. Lauren’s FBI partner, Special Agent Matthew Lawton, a computer expert with no real crime-solving experience, pitches in, and they turn up a new lead when the hotel’s daytime desk manager reveals that Gunnar was sharing a room with a Mr. Steinarsson, whom she assumed was his husband and who checked out the day of Gunnar’s murder. Pressed by the Icelandic government and the wealthy Mr. Hudson, the police and FBI send Lauren and Matt to Iceland looking for more clues while their colleagues keep after Brooklyn, a drug addict, and Ryan and his wife, who still seem like the best bet. In Iceland they partner with Berg Arnason as they seek out Steinarsson, a wealthy, well-connected businessman so determined to evade them that they begin to wonder what he’s hiding.
A prime character-driven procedural with the added allure of Iceland.Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0727889874
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Not as tightly clued as a Christie original, this initial First Edition entry still gives readers what they came for.
A curator of a collection of rare mysteries solves a puzzle of her own.
A degree in 19th-century literature doesn’t open many doors, Hayley Burke discovers, and those that do open seldom lead to treasure troves. So when her stint as assistant to the assistant curator of the Jane Austen Centre in Bath doesn’t quite cover expenses, Hayley thinks herself lucky to be offered the position of curator of The First Edition Society. Founded by the late Lady Georgiana Fowling as a repository for her vast collection of mystery novels, the society hasn’t quite decided whether it’s a library, a social club, or an educational institution. What it clearly is is Hayley's home, since the job offers both Hayley and the society’s secretary, Glynis Woolgar, apartments in Middlebank House, the spacious mansion that houses the late Lady Fowling’s collection. In an effort to expand the society’s profile, Hayley also opens Middlebank House to the weekly meetings of a local writers’ group that specializes in mystery fan fiction. But the morning after a particularly contentious session pitting writers of Agatha Christie vampire mashups against creators of Agatha Christie zombie pastiches, the corpse of Tristram Cummins is discovered in the library. Now Hayley’s job is on the line, as the tabloids move in and the board of directors suddenly finds the society’s profile a little too high. Even worse, Charles Henry Dill, Lady Fowling’s rapacious nephew, discovers that Hayley hasn’t read most of the authors featured in his aunt’s collection. Alarmed, Hayley gets down to work, and only a few novels later, Wingate (Midsummer Mayhem, 2019, etc.) shows her channeling Miss Marple accurately enough to give the police a run for their money in unmasking a killer.
Not as tightly clued as a Christie original, this initial First Edition entry still gives readers what they came for.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0410-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Even when she’s in pantyhose, Hannah’s grit and quick thinking once more save the day.
All of Lake Eden is agog when the police chief’s secretary takes a tumble from the penthouse of a condo complex.
Fabulously wealthy Roger Dalworth has pulled out all the stops for the grand reopening of the Albion Hotel, his new luxury condo project. A caterer from Minneapolis! Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes from The Cookie Jar for dessert! The evening is so grand that The Cookie Jar’s owner, Hannah Swensen (Cinnamon Roll Murder, 2012, etc.), in eye makeup and pantyhose, decides to tour the Albion’s posh penthouse, complete with its outdoor garden. Hannah is luckier than Barbara Donnelly, whose own tour of the penthouse ends in a headfirst plunge to the parking lot. Barbara survives, much addled, leaving amateur sleuth Hannah to decode her ramblings about her brother (Barbara is an only child) and a furry white monster that lurks in her hospital room. Hannah soon has her own worries. She finds Dr. Bev Thorndike, her former rival for local dentist Norman Rhodes’ affections, in her red Maserati at the bottom of Miller’s Pond. Even though Dr. Bev has recently become engaged to Roger, her death puts Hannah very much on Detective Mike Kingston’s radar screen. Can Hannah find the real culprit before Mike ends the discussion of whether he or Norman will be the one to wrestle her to the altar by putting her in the slammer instead?
Even when she’s in pantyhose, Hannah’s grit and quick thinking once more save the day.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7582-8034-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
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