A lightweight but entertaining outing.
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks returns from a reflective U.S. vacation to contend with the abduction of his daughter and the shooting of his female partner.
In the 19th novel in British author Robinson's series, the Yorkshire inspector has no sooner gotten over the emotional fallout of the terror attack and romantic betrayal of his last adventure than he is hit with a double dose of upsetting news: His 24-year-old daughter Tracy is being held captive by a drug dealer being sought on a gun charge, and his partner and former lover Annie Cabbot is in critical condition after being shot by the dealer. Complicating matters is the fact that Tracy and the dealer, Jaff, the slick boyfriend of one of her flat mates, were sexually involved before life on the lam turned bad. It's up to Banks and his supporting cast of Eastvale cops to link Jaff to an unsolved killing from several years back and a brutal gang involved in the sex trade. The threat to Tracy is kept at a low boil; even after Jaff ties her up and rapes her, in her father's bed, the two act like any sparring couple. Her acting out with drugs, piercings, an assumed name and an unstable bad boy because her father neglected her in favor of his rock-star son Brian is superficially handled. And Annie's recovery is never in doubt. But the recharging feelings between Banks and Annie raise expectations for the next installment.
A lightweight but entertaining outing.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-136295-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
IN THE NEWS
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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