by Maureen Carter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2012
Carter (A Question of Despair, 2011, etc.) delivers another well-turned procedural, with the Quinn/King relationship better...
A missing woman reignites the fires of animosity between an icy detective and a scheming reporter.
Elizabeth Kent senses something isn’t right when her usually doting daughter Olivia is out of touch. Following up with the school where Olivia teaches, she’s told that Olivia has taken an unanticipated break—something Olivia never mentioned to her. Once DI Sarah Quinn shows up at Elizabeth’s door and starts asking questions, Elizabeth knows for certain that something must be wrong. The DI’s department has received a letter implying that Olivia’s been involved in some sort of kidnapping, and the tough detective is determined to find her before she comes to a bad end, assuming that she’s even still alive. Unfortunately for Sarah, Olivia’s disappearance has also drawn the attention of reporter Caroline King. While the muckraker, who was once close to Sarah, has been at odds with her for a long time, now Caroline is involved at a personal level because Olivia is one of her oldest friends. If the two antagonists can only put aside their differences, they may well solve the mystery before it’s too late, but with these two powerful women, it’s unclear that either will give in.
Carter (A Question of Despair, 2011, etc.) delivers another well-turned procedural, with the Quinn/King relationship better developed than in her last installment.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-78029-008-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Creme de la Crime
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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by Joanne Fluke ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2013
Even when she’s in pantyhose, Hannah’s grit and quick thinking once more save the day.
All of Lake Eden is agog when the police chief’s secretary takes a tumble from the penthouse of a condo complex.
Fabulously wealthy Roger Dalworth has pulled out all the stops for the grand reopening of the Albion Hotel, his new luxury condo project. A caterer from Minneapolis! Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes from The Cookie Jar for dessert! The evening is so grand that The Cookie Jar’s owner, Hannah Swensen (Cinnamon Roll Murder, 2012, etc.), in eye makeup and pantyhose, decides to tour the Albion’s posh penthouse, complete with its outdoor garden. Hannah is luckier than Barbara Donnelly, whose own tour of the penthouse ends in a headfirst plunge to the parking lot. Barbara survives, much addled, leaving amateur sleuth Hannah to decode her ramblings about her brother (Barbara is an only child) and a furry white monster that lurks in her hospital room. Hannah soon has her own worries. She finds Dr. Bev Thorndike, her former rival for local dentist Norman Rhodes’ affections, in her red Maserati at the bottom of Miller’s Pond. Even though Dr. Bev has recently become engaged to Roger, her death puts Hannah very much on Detective Mike Kingston’s radar screen. Can Hannah find the real culprit before Mike ends the discussion of whether he or Norman will be the one to wrestle her to the altar by putting her in the slammer instead?
Even when she’s in pantyhose, Hannah’s grit and quick thinking once more save the day.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7582-8034-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
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by Maria DiRico ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25, 2020
Her zany cast will have readers wondering whether DiRico’s series debut is set in Belle View or Bellevue.
Murder crashes the party.
Mia Carina would like nothing better than to see her dad, Ravello, a made man in Donny Boldano’s mob, go straight. When she hears he’s won the Belle View Banquet Manor from hard-luck gambler Andre Bouras in a poker game, she rushes back from Palm Beach to help him run the place, hoping it will provide her dad with enough legitimate income to allow him to cut his ties with the underworld. Despite its dated décor and bone-shaking proximity to LaGuardia Airport, the catering hall has panoramic views out its windows that make it a worthy rival to the overpriced event venues in Manhattan—which Mia’s outer-borough friends drive her nuts by calling “the city.” (“Queens is the city” is her perennial retort.) And she proves her borough cred by moving in with her nonna in Astoria. But running a catering hall involves more than dealing with bridezillas like Alice Paluski, who’s determined to make her wedding bigger and better than her twin sister’s, or with momzillas like Barbara Grazio, Alice’s prospective mother-in-law, who’s determined to make the groom’s side of the wedding outshine the bride’s. She has to wrangle an ever changing cast of chefs, sous-chefs, waitstaff, decorators, DJs, and the occasional stripper, who all bring a host of quirks and baggage to the banquet table. She also has to deal with more than one corpse. It takes all of Mia’s considerable ingenuity to keep Ravello’s first legit enterprise from becoming a ticket right back to the slammer.
Her zany cast will have readers wondering whether DiRico’s series debut is set in Belle View or Bellevue.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2534-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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