A moving family drama seamlessly combined with a captivating tale of murder.
As a means to overcome a family tragedy, a journalist and his daughter investigate a murky homicide that may have grander political implications in this novel.
Laura O’Brien’s death from breast cancer shook the foundations of her family. She was the twine that kept the tribe tethered together while her husband, Tom, maintained only a “tenuous relationship” with his two grown children, Katie and Brian. In order to repair their tattered relationship, Tom and Katie agree to undertake a “joint adventure,” however morbid—they decide to collaboratively investigate a murder with the intention of writing a book documenting their findings. The case is as peculiar as it is mysterious: James Worthy, the interim state chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, bludgeoned to death Wally Nelson, a deputy chief of staff for Sen. Thomas Stint of Wyoming. Since Worthy agreed to a plea bargain, almost no details regarding the case were publicly released. Worthy agrees to be interviewed by Tom and Katie, but he is brutally attacked in prison before the discussion transpires and is unlikely to survive. But he left a note for Tom and Katie that claims his daughter, Joan, was raped—she may be living in France now—and that he feared for his life, a chilling correspondence in this harrowing tale by Pifher. The deeper into the case the journalistic duo digs, the more lurid the details they uncover, a ghastly core conveyed with great power by the author’s foursquare prose. Delicately juxtaposed to the salaciousness of the case is the endearing attempt by the O’Briens not so much to put themselves back together but to find a formula for their reconstitution in the wake of their collective collapse. This is an affecting story, emotionally unflinching and unsentimental with no false notes.
A moving family drama seamlessly combined with a captivating tale of murder.Pub Date: March 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-87429-6
Page Count: 499
Publisher: MTP Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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