The returning series star shines once again in this slow-burn mystery.
An inspector combs Alaska for a missing person in this fourth installment of Buell’s mystery series.
Annie Brewster, who leads the Alaska Investigation Bureau’s Cold Case Unit, handpicks her team’s latest case: Rayleen Urgen has been missing for four years, ever since cops discovered her abandoned car in 2000. Though a report had been filed, Rayleen’s husband Clifford Urgen apparently didn’t believe she was missing. He was in prison at that time for the 1996 robbery of a gold dealer who employed Rayleen. Clifford was released a couple of months ago—unlike the other robber, his father, who’s still incarcerated. The AIB unit, including Annie’s partner Arturo Feliz, considers various possibilities: the thieves didn’t return all the loot, Rayleen was in on the heist, or maybe she was the victim of a seemingly random crime. They interview numerous people and scour for evidence (including inside Rayleen’s car), hoping something will lead them to the missing woman, wherever she may be. This installment in Buell’s series, like those that precede it, is a deliberately-paced procedural. Annie is hyper-focused, laying out aspects of the case like puzzle pieces and wisely separating what the inspectors know from what’s still unknown. This entails intermittent recaps as well as lists of the unit’s developing theories (is Rayleen hiding from someone?). Alaska makes for an indelible setting, as the cold climate necessitates “those ice thingies you strap on your boots” and is impossible to predict. The narrative sticks closely to Annie’s perspective; readers don’t know much more than she does, following her methodical investigation as she digs up compelling evidence or makes a startling connection. It all gives rise to a resolution that’s both deftly deployed and convincing.
The returning series star shines once again in this slow-burn mystery.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9798989557219
Page Count: 441
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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