Oldham, whose writing career (Backlash, not reviewed, etc.) dovetails nicely with his 25-year stint in police operations,...
Both the personal and professional lives of DCI Henry Christie, now based at the Lancashire police HQ, are about to take roller-coaster turns. His reconciliation with his ex-wife Kate may be derailed by his dalliance with DI Jane Roscoe, and the deaths of JJ, a skimming collection agent for drug nabob Ray Cragg, and his girlfriend may signal a particularly nasty return of underworld turf wars. In short order, three drug dealers are shot, two bodies are dumped into a quarry, there’s a massacre over fast-food cheeseburgers, Ray’s half-brother Marty is executed gangland-style, and Ray’s mistress becomes Ray’s punching bag when he discovers she really loved poor Marty. Moreover, the gent executed along with Marty was an American undercover narc trying to infiltrate the gang run by Mendoza, Spain’s leading lowlife. While Christie tries to extricate himself from Jane’s demands and unravel a million secret alliances and double-dealings (including a few engineered by police higher-ups) the thieves’ killing spree continues, and thousands of pounds of Ray’s drug profits disappear. One more shoot-’em-up with dire results will cause Christie to be suspended for poor judgment, but not before he puts paid to Ray Cragg’s vicious pursuits.
Oldham, whose writing career (Backlash, not reviewed, etc.) dovetails nicely with his 25-year stint in police operations, believes in a bloody good time . . . and several dandy plot twists.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7278-5874-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2002
Despite its caloric restrictions, Fluke’s 11th cozy is a tasty treat.
A new fitness regimen allows Hannah Swensen (Carrot Cake Murder, 2008, etc.) to exercise her ingenuity along with her abs when she finds a dead body in the local health club’s Jacuzzi.
Hannah isn’t used to having her suitor, Detective Mike Kingston, give her amateur investigations his blessings. But then, she’s not used to having to eat skinless chicken breasts night after night instead of feasting on the treats she and Lisa Beeseman serve up daily at The Cookie Jar. So even though her diet and exercise plan—undertaken in a last-ditch attempt to fit into the Regency dress she ordered for her mother’s book launch—is a drag, her newfound freedom to probe the death of fitness instructor Ronni Ward is a treat, not in the least because Ronni’s demise puts paid to her shameless flirting with every man in sight. Not only Mike, but Hannah’s sister Andrea’s county-cop husband Bill and Lisa’s local-cop husband Herb are barred from the official investigation because they were just too close to the victim. In fact, Norman Rhodes, Hannah’s second-string beau, may be the only man in Lake Eden Ronni hadn’t tried to bed. His immunity to Ronni’s charms, along with his own charming modesty, raises his stock in Hannah’s eyes, and before long the two of them are whipping up Bonnie Brownie Cookie Bars in his custom-designed kitchen while watching security tapes to see who might have taken Ronni for her final swim.
Despite its caloric restrictions, Fluke’s 11th cozy is a tasty treat.Pub Date: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7582-1022-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A terrifying page-turner with the complexities of fatherhood at its core.
The serial killer who terrorized a small British town by kidnapping and murdering five little boys has been locked up for over a decade. So who could have taken 6-year-old Neil Spencer?
"The first forty-eight hours following a disappearance are the most crucial." And yet one of those hours has gone by the time Neil's separated parents realize he never made it from his father's house to his mother's, a short walk he took alone. One of the main investigators of the crime is DI Pete Willis, who cracked a similar case years back and has never quite recovered from it, especially since one of the missing boys was never found. Is there an accomplice still on the loose? As Willis and his colleagues comb the town for clues about the disappearance, a recently widowed novelist and his young son move into what they don't yet know is called "the scary house." Jake is a bright but isolated child who has relied heavily on an imaginary friend and a Packet of Special Things for comfort since he came home from school one day to find his mother's lifeless body at the foot of the stairs. This move is meant to be a much-needed fresh start for the grieving and bewildered father and son, but from the start nothing goes right. On Jake's first day at his new school, the other children draw him into discussion about the missing boy and the Whisper Man who took him. Soon enough, Jake hears whispering too. North's novel pits nasty men submerged in evil against decent men struggling to do good; several father-son pairs reflect the challenges and darker possibilities of this relationship, though plotlines involving female characters are a bit undeveloped.
A terrifying page-turner with the complexities of fatherhood at its core.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31799-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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