An appealing narrator, effective characterization, and unexpected twists make for a fine murder tale.
In this debut mystery, a middle school teacher comes under suspicion when she finds a body in a bathroom.
As a special education teacher in Cincinnati for the last 19 years, Hannah Hutchinson, 42, is accustomed to handling difficult situations. Her students are severely disabled, with conditions such as nonverbal autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy, “kids who have terrific needs, are hard to figure out, and who constantly challenge me.” But nothing could have prepared her for the shock of discovering a murdered woman in the girls restroom at school. Hannah is unnerved at law enforcement’s pointed queries, and things take a turn for the worse when the body is identified as Gretchen Mitchell, the mother of a girl with Down syndrome. After a strong disagreement over the girl’s Individual Education Plan, Hannah told a colleague she could kill Gretchen; meanwhile, the woman had been trying to get the teacher fired. Then Hannah realizes something the police still don’t know—her missing awl is the murder weapon. Since she has honed her investigative skills in ferreting out answers to her students’ learning challenges, Hannah resolves to do some detective work of her own, little thinking she could land in even greater danger. In her novel, Masters offers a likably flawed narrator in Hannah, a devoted teacher (classroom scenes are very well drawn) but one who’s neither sentimental nor a martyr. Among the other teachers, Hannah is one of “a few serious drinkers.” She has a keen eye for attractive men, enjoys a no-strings relationship with an instructor, and doesn’t always show good sense. The author makes it hard to guess the real killer by strewing the plot with clever red herrings and other misdirection, delivering a satisfying finish.
An appealing narrator, effective characterization, and unexpected twists make for a fine murder tale.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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