A thoughtful, compelling mystery and a complex look at how generational trauma continues to reverberate.
A therapist must solve the murder of one of her patients in Berlin’s mystery novel.
Seattle indie rock star Amy Nguyen has just died. Her death is ruled a suicide, but her therapist, Jackie Kessler, thinks she was murdered, and she’s running out of time to prove it—Amy’s family is suing her for wrongful death. Jackie recruits her friend’s son, Allan, a former police detective, to help her investigate. Jackie feels especially connected to Amy because their families have similar backgrounds—they come from generations of war refugees from Asia (Korea and Vietnam, respectively). As Amy observes, “My parents and older sister were boat people who barely made it to a refugee camp in Thailand. I’m the first member of the family born in the States. Some of that residual pain and suffering got handed down.” The narrative is peppered with flashbacks to Jackie’s sessions with Amy, which illustrate that Jackie and Amy had known each other for a long time, and that Amy, while troubled, was not suicidal. Allan pushes Jackie to explain how she knows Amy wasn’t suicidal, but talking about Amy goes against Jackie’s obligation to keep her clients’ secrets confidential. She may have to talk, though; Amy’s bandmates think she was murdered, too, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to prove it without digging into Amy’s life. This process makes Jackie rethink her own family trauma. The story is framed around Amy’s murder, but it’s really about Jackie; every time she learns something new about what was going on with Amy, she connects it back to her own experience and the generational trauma in her own family. The narrative doesn’t wallow; Jackie also has a supportive network of friends (and a caring husband) who help her and are integral to the narrative. Sometimes the author introduces characters or pieces of information without immediately explaining how they connect to the story, which creates some confusion and distance—the “whodunnit” aspect will keep readers turning the pages, though.
A thoughtful, compelling mystery and a complex look at how generational trauma continues to reverberate.Pub Date: March 8, 2024
ISBN: 9798989893805
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 23, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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