Hall juggles facile satire and suspense in an entertaining effort that never quite rises to the top.
“The Milli Vanilli of the crossword puzzle community” confronts the ugly consequences of masquerading as the Puzzle Lady, in her seventh installment.
What bothers Cora Felton (A Puzzle in a Pear Tree, 2002, etc.) is not her uneasy conscience over pretending to be a nonpareil creator of crosswords, but the lucrative endorsement by a cereal company that requires her to tour malls and grocery stores feeding children new, improved Corn Toasties. Worse yet, the tour will be filmed and turned into a series of “reality show” commercials. Cora can’t get out of the tour and, to be honest, is enjoying the behind-the-scenes entertainment when a creepy fan joins the entourage anonymously, sending Cora homemade crossword puzzles containing sinister rhymes. Who’s stalking the Puzzle Lady? Could the besotted, annoying Freddy Fosterfield have murdered the child actress whose only crime was being over the age of consent? Producer Quentin Burns has a toupee that ought to be a crime, but might his rug conceal a more dangerous obsession? Cora’s niece Sherry, the real puzzle constructor, has her own stalker: her brutal ex-husband Dennis, who tries to woo Sherry with a copy of one of the stalker’s puzzles. Knowing that Dennis can’t create a crossword puzzle, Cora and Sherry look everywhere else to solve the homicidal clues.
Hall juggles facile satire and suspense in an entertaining effort that never quite rises to the top.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2005
ISBN: 0-553-80417-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005
Careful research, a driving plot, wry wit, and compelling characters make this a most entertaining read.
The real-life Victorian police detective who was the inspiration for Charles Dickens’ Mr. Bucket serves as the main character in a fast-paced historical mystery.
Although this is Mason’s debut novel for adults, he’s an accomplished playwright. Those skills are evident in the crisp dialogue and well-structured scenes of this book. It begins with a bang in 1860 as Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field, assigned to guard Queen Victoria and Prince Albert during a public appearance, witnesses an assassination attempt. The shooter, who’s arrested, is mentally ill, but Field quickly begins to suspect the man is just a tool of a conspiracy—one connected to the controversy over the new ideas of the naturalist Charles Darwin. Field’s determined pursuit of the truth is sometimes snagged by his celebrity; Dickens fans, including some in the royal family, insist on calling him “Mr. Bucket” and confusing the fictional policeman with the real one. Field persists, however, plunging into a dizzyingly complex plot that takes him all over London and off to Germany. The cast of characters teems with satisfyingly despicable villains, many of them based on real aristocrats and scientists. The most villainous, however, is the memorably terrifying Decimus Cobb, a former choirboy–turned–Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter. Countering Cobb and the other bad guys are the earnestly heroic Field, his resourceful wife, a kidnapped butcher’s boy, and Prince Albert, who gets a touchingly human portrayal. There are cameos by such famous figures as Karl Marx, Dickens, and, of course, Darwin. With many grisly murders and many shocking surprises along the way, the book rockets toward a last dark twist.
Careful research, a driving plot, wry wit, and compelling characters make this a most entertaining read.Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61620-634-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
The intricate puzzle and continuing Irish atmosphere make this the series’ best to date.
A clever Irish lass is not afraid to voice her opinion.
Siobhán O’Sullivan may be still fairly new to the Garda, but she seems to have a real aptitude for crime solving (Murder in an Irish Churchyard, 2018, etc.). In addition, she and her boss, DS Macdara Flannery, have established an unapproved romantic relationship, and she’s “mother” to her siblings, all of whom help run a bistro in Kilbane, a picture-perfect town that’s hosting both an Arts and Music Festival and an International Poker Tournament. The card players include top-seeded Eamon Foley, aka the Octopus, who’s brought along his heavily pregnant wife, Rose. Foley’s closet rivals, Clementine Hart and Shane Ross, are eager to unseat him. After winning big with “the Dead Man’s Hand,” Foley is accused of cheating. Unhappy referee Nathan Doyle announces that he’ll review the tapes and deliver his ruling the next morning. Meanwhile, the unruly and well-oiled crowd moves on to Sharkey’s Pub, where the next morning Siobhán finds the body of Foley hanging in a locked storeroom. His death looks like suicide, but Siobhán, certain it’s murder, pleads her case to Macdara. The contents of Foley’s pocket include a set of brass knuckles, two defaced playing cards, and an apparent suicide note but no keys, wallet, money, or mobile phone. Among the locals who had placed unwise wagers with Foley before he died is Henry Moore, who bet his daughter Amanda’s racehorse. Both of Foley's rivals would be glad to see him gone, and his wife’s sorrow is limited to the prize money she’s never going to collect. Despite some reluctance from Macdara, Siobhán continues to dig, even in places he warns her to avoid, straining their relationship in her determination to leave no stone unturned.
The intricate puzzle and continuing Irish atmosphere make this the series’ best to date.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4967-1904-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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