A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.
In Dalrymple’s second thriller featuring Ann Kinnear, the appealing spirit sensor fears she may be haunted by the ghost of a killer.
Ann’s been unhappy since surviving an encounter with a murderer; she killed Biden Firth in self-defense but also lost her beloved dog Beau. And though she can sense Beau’s spirit, he seems to have moved on. When sudden hand cramps lead to injuries, Ann believes Firth’s ghost is the source and calls fellow sensor/consultant Garrick Masser. Garrick, in turn, offers an exchange of services: he’ll help get rid of Firth if Ann can locate “the lady,” a mysterious something that Garrick’s client, Ellen Lynam, wants. Ellen’s late brother, Loring, isn’t cooperating with Garrick (they weren’t on friendly terms when Loring was alive), but the ghost may respond more favorably to the reddish-blonde Ann. Ann, meanwhile, can only hope that Firth doesn’t compound his assaults on her. Dalrymple (The Sense of Death, 2013) has crafted an understated mystery; it seems like a simple case for Ann, but numerous conundrums emerge during the investigation. It isn’t initially apparent, for example, what exactly the lady is, or why Ellen thinks the lady can save her family’s hotel. There’s unquestionably a constant threat for Ann; she can’t even drive because a hand cramp could cause an accident, and she has to rely on brother Mike’s boyfriend, Scott, as her chauffeur. But Dalrymple’s story is at its best in its jovial, humorous scenes. For example, Ann’s go-to pseudonym is Kay Near, clearly inspired by her surname. Likewise, a surprise run-in with Ellen leads Ann to pretend Scott is her fiance, a role that he plays with unmistakable relish. Even Dalrymple’s prose isn’t resistant to cheeky descriptions, referring to Garrick as an “emaciated vulture,” while Ann, aiming to drive without Scott’s knowledge, spots his hanging pants and pats “the pockets of the pant guiltily.” The ending offers a thorough resolution but not before hitting a few genuinely surprising plot twists.
A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9862675-1-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: William Kingsfield Publishers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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