Ripley (That Angel Look, 1998, etc.) likes his story so much he tells it twice: first as a short novel, then as a...
What’s a copper to do when his snitch’s information is only half-correct? The drugs are where Blind Hugh said they’d be, but where are curry addict Big Benny, finance wizard Ash the Cash, and their dogsbodies Rafik and Julian? Chief Inspector Frank McEnvoy confiscates the cocaine, replaces it with talcum powder, stashes the bags in the most decrepit stationhouse in England, then waits for Big Benny et al. to come after it. Alas, the set-up fails to nail Big Benny, and McEnvoy is forced from the CID in disgrace, while his second-in-command, Jim Driver, is promoted to Inspector. A year later, McEnvoy’s working security at Angel’s Wings Transport when Driver, on a tip from the tattletale Blind Hugh, pops around with the news that Tyler Pharmaceutical’s miracle cancer drug, Coletoxore, is about to be hijacked—by Big Benny, of course—before Angel’s Wings can put it on a flight to Bombay. But wicked Mortlake Eddy is also after the Coletoxore, and the cops have to foil two takeover attempts at Cargo Village, the freight terminal area at Heathrow Airport—even as, unbeknownst to crooks and coppers and even Blind Hugh, still other hands are arranging a drug switcheroo, leading to heavy-duty forklifting, spectacular car crashes, a Driver debacle, and a last laugh for McEnvoy.
Ripley (That Angel Look, 1998, etc.) likes his story so much he tells it twice: first as a short novel, then as a screenplay. Though it hardly bears repeating, this amusing tale just may send you out in search of a hot curry dinner.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2002
ISBN: 1-899344-82-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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