A celebratory display of the many things an accomplished veteran can do with the short mystery.
Eighteen stories, 15 of them reprints from 1973-2020, from the prolific British writer equally distinguished by his inventiveness and his polished craftsmanship.
The oldest tale, “The Bathroom,” is a fictionalization of the career of serial wife-killer George Joseph Smith most noteworthy for the anecdote it inspires in Lovesey’s introduction; its true-crime counterpart, “A Tale of Three Tubs,” is more beguiling and compelling. The historical interest is also the strongest element in “The Deadliest Tale of All,” in which Edgar Allan Poe meets the man who plans to write his obituary. And the trimmings in “A Three Pie Problem,” in which Superintendent Peter Diamond eludes his visiting relatives by investigating the poisoning of a retired accountant at his own Christmas party, shine more brightly than its payoff. Mostly, though, the stories are a demonstration of how many things Lovesey can do well. A burglar who wins a contest that sends him to Marrakesh in “Lady Luck” suffers an exquisitely well-calibrated payback. The veteran romance novelist tempted from her midlist purgatory to ghostwrite a roman à clef about a thinly disguised celebrity in “Ghosted” smells a rat just in time. In “The Homicidal Hat,” another mystery writer gets unexpected help from her crabby husband designing the winning entry in the cozy mystery conference Malice Domestic’s contest for most creative hat. “Formidophobia” traces the roots of the narrator’s fear of scarecrows to a dread secret that conceals still darker secrets. The hanging of a theatrical troupe’s leading lady introduces a surprisingly orthodox whodunit in “Gaslighting.” And the ending of the title story, in which the impending loss of their monastery leads to the poisoning of two monks, is more heartwarming than surprising.
A celebratory display of the many things an accomplished veteran can do with the short mystery.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-641-29361-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Soho Crime
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
Middling for this stellar series, which makes it another must-read, preferably in one sitting.
Unbeknownst to each other, Wyoming Fish and Game Warden Joe Pickett and outlaw falconer Nate Romanowski embark on equally urgent pursuits that converge in a way neither of them suspects.
Nate, who’s been off the grid ever since his wife, Liv, was killed in a fire intended to kill him too in Three-Inch Teeth (2024), has sworn vengeance on murderous conspirator Axel Soledad. After shooting several of Soledad’s hirelings, he joins forces with his friend and fellow Special Forces vet Geronimo Jones, who’s tracked him down, to chase his quarry deep into the woods. Governor Spencer Rulon, meanwhile, has pressed Joe into service once again to find veteran hunting guide Spike Rankin and his new assistant, Mark Eisele, who just happens to be Rulon’s son-in-law. Although nobody’s heard from the men for two days, the governor doesn’t want his wife and daughter to know they’re missing, and that means not alerting the media or the local sheriff, who’s no fan of Rulon’s anyway. Readers who’ve already seen Rankin and Eisele overpowered and imprisoned by a mysterious crew they ran into while they were setting up for the elk hunting season will assume that Soledad is behind their kidnapping as well. But Box will keep everyone guessing about exactly how Soledad and the ragtag military cult he’s gathered around him plan to confront the military-industrial complex he’s persuaded them is a clear and present danger. You know you’re in for a wild ride when Joe, saying goodbye to Marybeth, his long-suffering wife, promises her, “I’ll do my job and not cross the line.”
Middling for this stellar series, which makes it another must-read, preferably in one sitting.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593851050
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
The lavish food descriptions and appended recipes are the best parts of this anemic mystery.
Christmas is coming, but so is trouble for South Lick, Indiana.
Robbie Jordan, owner and chief cook at Pans ’N Pancakes, returns from solving a murder in California just in time for the holiday rush, which is complicated more than most Christmastimes by a number of surprises that disrupt her circle of friends. First, her assistant, Danna Beedle, gets a visit from Marcus Vandemere, a young biracial man claiming to be her half brother, an assertion that thrills Danna despite the doubts of some friends and relatives. Next comes a fire that nearly destroys the home of anesthesiologist Dr. William Geller, a racist whose wife, Tina, reportedly left him years ago. When a skeleton turns up in the attic, the not-so-esteemed doctor has some explaining to do. Robbie’s nemesis, Detective Octavia Slade, who recently married Robbie’s former boyfriend, is more willing than usual to accept help from Robbie, who has a knack for finding things out. The next to die is Tina’s twin, Toni, who knew Marcus from karate classes. Toni’s husband is the prime suspect, but Robbie’s convinced the fatalities are connected. With help from her boyfriend and her network of friends, she attempts to clear things up before the killer spoils her holiday by adding her to his list.
The lavish food descriptions and appended recipes are the best parts of this anemic mystery.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2317-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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