A smartly written and riveting detective story.
In Wiseman’s third series installment, Sherlock Holmes delves into a baffling case of apparent death by magician.
In 1894, three years after his confrontation with Professor Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, the famed sleuth of London’s 221B Baker St. is tackling a new case—a highly peculiar one involving apparent blackmail. Someone has been sending wealthy widow Margaret Jones what appear to be diary entries in her own handwriting that allude to her brief extramarital affair. However, she swears she didn’t write them, and oddly, the sender has made no demands or threats of any kind. Meanwhile, magician Percy Simmons, who had the affair with Jones, has his own troubles: He believes that another unknown conjurer is somehow sickening and killing people connected to Simmons’ secret theosophy order. Soon, the ever dependable Dr. John Watson lends his expertise and social graces to becoming a prospective member of Simmons’ group. Meanwhile, Simmons’ talk of “evil” unsettles Holmes, who seems particularly distraught over the fact that he’s at least partially responsible for Moriarty’s demise. Wiseman’s latest series installment is a worthwhile, intricate whodunit. Holmes investigates dual cases with an “unseen enemy” or two and varied crimes, including murder and burglary. The mystery deepens as the body count rises and alleged feats of magic, like astral travel, seem to defy Holmes’ cherished logic. Readers will likely predict some of the final-act events, but there’s more than one turn they may not expect. The sleuth’s mental turmoil in this story is convincing and effectively shows his humanity; it also coincides with his typical, familiar anti-social behavior. Watson, although he doesn’t fill a more familiar role as narrator, is an endearing counterpart to Holmes, and he meticulously relays to the detective his own experiences and observations. Throughout, the author’s measured prose is comparable to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary style: “Cooing and consolation might have tipped my client over into hysterics, whereas my uncompassionate question had a sobering effect.”
A smartly written and riveting detective story.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781734464160
Page Count: 198
Publisher: M. K. Wiseman
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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