An engrossing mystery that delivers a rich character study and a tale of redemption.
A disgraced investigative reporter gets a chance to reclaim his reputation while stuck writing obituaries for the famous.
Oster’s titular character is Wallace “Mack” McRae. Mack used to be an award-winning reporter for the Journal. Then his wife, Helen, began a long, slow decline while battling ALS, and Mack starting drinking to cope, eventually getting fired. Now he writes slimy advance obituaries of celebrities for the sleazy website dead.com, mainly because he gets a health insurance package that keeps pace with Helen’s medical bills. Then one day, Mack’s luck changes. One of his longtime obit subjects is Dieter von Gehlen, a German-born doctor, organic chemist, and perennial Nobel Prize hopeful best known for his contribution to well-known weight-loss drug LytheEZ. Von Gehlen calls, wanting to meet with Mack. Then the chemist is found dead by apparent suicide. This makes no sense to Mack, so he begins to investigate von Gehlen’s death. The writer discovers that the doctor’s laptop and file cabinet are missing. Mack later determines that von Gehlen had doubts about the drug trials for LytheEZ. By using his reporter skills to dig deeper, Mack gets on the radar of the rich and powerful who don’t want LytheEZ’s safeness questioned or his investigation into von Gehlen’s death published. So Mack ends up in danger as well. Oster closed out his long journalism career dabbling as an obit writer, which, he explains in his author’s note, inspired this mystery. The author is familiar with the underbelly of journalism, and that shows in his caustic descriptions of dead.com and its weaselly owner, Anton Teufel. It’s an ugly, new world of information gathering and dispersal. Mack is a sympathetic character, exhibiting a strong work ethic despite the turmoil in his personal life, as he tries to stay on the wagon while Helen is slowly dying. He deftly employs many of the contacts he’s acquired through the years to compile his comeback article. Oster also provides Mack with a plethora of potential overlords behind a dim Russian hit man pursuing him. The result is a layered, fast-paced thriller featuring a captivating protagonist.
An engrossing mystery that delivers a rich character study and a tale of redemption.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 396
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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