An entertaining whodunit with a razor-sharp, indelible cast and series potential.
A body turning up at a vast Pennsylvania estate ignites investigations from police and amateurs alike in this debut murder mystery.
Louise Jenkins agrees to host a local event at her centuries-old ancestral home. The Bucks County Historical Society’s annual house and garden tour draws a crowd of guests ready to mingle and sip bubbly. But the party comes to an abrupt end when someone stumbles on a body in the pantry. Neither Louise nor her three grown children know the victim, Michael Porter, who died from blunt force trauma. Cops tie the homicide to drugs and a later overdose. They’re convinced that Porter had been a dealer despite his fiancee’s insistence that he stayed away from drugs. Louise’s daughter Amelia Halliday certainly believes the detectives have missed something. She was an investigative reporter in Los Angeles before a relationship with one of her sources got her sacked. She’s now freelancing in her hometown and determined to solve the murder that happened in her mother’s house. Amelia isn’t the only amateur sleuth on the case; 11-year-old Winnie Miller, whose parents help manage Louise’s estate, scours for clues as well. This brilliant and animated tween’s impressive observational skills come in handy as she inches closer to the real culprit. In fact, she and Amelia seem to be making someone nervous, as they spot strangers following them. And since a handful of people have a possible involvement in Porter’s murder, along with a mounting pile of associated crimes, danger could spring from anywhere—even a familiar face.
The narrative’s leisurely pace echoes a cozy mystery, though Leonhauser’s story is a bit too edgy for that subgenre. Still, both of the gumshoes work at their own pace, and Amelia picks up most of her evidence simply from people approaching her with information. It’s nevertheless a delight to watch them slowly unravel the mystery. Winnie even puts items she finds in her “evidence box,” things that may or may not help unmask a killer. She’s just one member of a vibrant cast; there’s also Ruth Richards, Louise’s funny, sometimes cheeky lifelong best friend, as well as Tony Mardi, the good-natured chief detective who was Amelia’s college boyfriend. Intrigue colors the backstories, too, such as the missing man who briefly owned Louise’s estate, threw wild, extravagant parties, and promptly vanished a year ago. The author keeps the spotlight on the characters with a relatively simple mystery; readers get at least a few answers well before Amelia and Winnie do, and what’s left isn’t terribly hard to crack. But a few deductions aren’t convincing; one detective doesn’t think Porter’s place is “a drug dealer’s apartment” on account of the “secondhand” furniture and “worn, inexpensive” clothing brands. At the same time, it’s realistic that Amelia continually reworks or questions her ongoing theories. Occasional clues turn out to be red herrings—a murder-mystery staple. The final act of the tale, which could easily spawn a sequel, amps up suspense as one of the vivacious heroes finds herself in peril and a guilty baddie vows to get away scot-free.
An entertaining whodunit with a razor-sharp, indelible cast and series potential.Pub Date: May 31, 2023
ISBN: 9798987288108
Page Count: 446
Publisher: Twin Beeches Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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