The partners dance around their powerful feelings in a stunning Irish landscape, making this far more than an ordinary...
Two Buffalo detectives have yet another brush with death.
Lauren Riley and her partner and housemate, Shane Reese, have an intense and complex relationship on the cusp of being sexual. They are such stars at solving cold case murders that they’ve earned the enmity of Buffalo Police Department higher-ups annoyed with their fame. Forced to have her annual physical, Riley is bummed when she’s put on medical leave after refusing to admit she hasn't fully recovered from having been stabbed in another high-profile case. Bored, she renews her private investigator’s license and waits for an interesting case, which promptly appears when Sharon Whitney hires her to go to Ireland to find a Picasso that was stolen 40 years ago, while she was still married to Howard Whitney. Although the couple divorced and split the insurance payment of $3 million, the painting is now worth $20 million, and they both want it badly. Nothing was proven against the lead suspect, handyman Jimmy Breen, and he returned to Ireland. Riley convinces Reese to join her for a working holiday, and they arrive at a B&B in Keelnamara to learn that the Garda have ruled Breen’s recent death a murder and his tiny house has been trashed. When someone scours their room at the B&B, they realize that the painting has yet to be found. Since everyone in the small community knows about the missing painting, even the local Garda is suspect. The stakes are raised when a pub owner is tortured and killed. Riley and Reese keep a step ahead of the Garda and solve the complicated case, but their relationship and Riley’s prospects are still far from certain.
The partners dance around their powerful feelings in a stunning Irish landscape, making this far more than an ordinary procedural.Pub Date: July 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7278-9131-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
Like her heroine’s chatty columns, this is for those who want their murder with a side of personal drama. And lots of clams.
When her best friend’s sworn enemy dies, a restaurateur digs into a case with some surprising connections.
Hayley’s Kitchen, the restaurant local food columnist Hayley Powell owns, is such a staple of the Bar Harbor food industry that not even the nemesis of her good friend Mona Barnes can stay away. In spite of Lonnie Leighton’s ongoing war over all things seafood with Mona, he can’t resist the many iterations of clams on Hayley’s menu, though his temper challenges his ability to keep his truce with Mona. It’s not as if Mona has her own temper in check, and the two almost ignite the place in a firestorm of anger when they find out that Mona’s son Dougie is engaged to Olive, one of Lonnie’s three daughters. It might just be the first thing Mona and Lonnie have ever agreed on. Before the dust can settle on the news and the outraged parents can decide how to punish their erstwhile offspring, Hayley discovers Lonnie’s body in the dunes, presumably having keeled over while he was clamming. Worse still, Dougie might be implicated in this mess. Mona insists that Hayley do some digging of her own—metaphorically, of course—and draw on her past success in solving mysteries to help her. The profusion of both Hayley’s food columns and her cocktail and clam recipes throughout leaves just enough room for Hayley to solve the case as she’s giving readers ideas for dinner.
Like her heroine’s chatty columns, this is for those who want their murder with a side of personal drama. And lots of clams.Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781496736512
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This long-running series skillfully weaves together elements of mystery with practical household tips and appended recipes.
Domestic diva Sophie Winston continues to extend her uncanny knack for attracting and solving murders in Alexandra, Virginia.
Beyond writing her popular advice column, Sophie dabbles in various activities, including cooking and decorating, but she’s still surprised when interior designer Mitzi Lawson approaches her at the House and Home Expo in Washington, D.C., and invites her to meet the next morning at the Inger House in Old Town Alexandria, where they both live, and to come in through the back door. Arriving for the meeting, Sophie discovers homeowner Denise Nofsinger’s lifeless body on the kitchen floor. She joins Officer Wong in conducting a search of the house, a large and impressive structure undergoing renovations to accommodate Denise and her husband, Mike. Despite the Inger name, the house has long been in the possession of the Nofsinger family, and various members have resided there. Meanwhile, Sophie’s adversary-turned-friend, Natasha, convinces her to help plan a brunch to be filmed for a TV show. When Mitzi finally gets in touch with Sophie, she claims she’s being stalked and insists that she’ll be the next to die. Sophie’s discovery of a tracking device in Mitzi’s purse provides concrete evidence of the stalker’s existence. It turns out that Denise, who suffered from diabetes, had been administered an overdose of insulin, which caused her death. Sophie partners with her former romantic interest, police Detective Wolf, on a sting operation to apprehend the stalker. There’ll be another murder and the discovery of a skeleton concealed within a wall. In response, Sophie and her companions use their local knowledge in hopes of apprehending the murderer.
This long-running series skillfully weaves together elements of mystery with practical household tips and appended recipes.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781496743459
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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