Noncop, nonpsychic Belzer wisecracks his way from coast to coast.
Law and Order’s Detective Munch takes a break from the Special Victims Unit to pen a tale of murder and corruption in the fantasy capital of the world.
After taking pains to vaunt his civilian status in I Am Not a Cop! (2008), TV star Belzer can’t resist the urge to snoop like a lawman. While in Las Vegas to help old friend Johnny Leland with his telethon, “Richard Belzer” (the author’s metafictional alter ego) gets sucked into a side trip to Los Angeles to hear his older friend Paul Venchus’ conspiracy theory about the decades-old case of starlet Brigid Burgeon, who was killed while filming with Johnny’s former partner Sal Fabell. Paul thinks Brigid’s demise was triggered by her liaison with congressman Mark Kaye Jr., himself killed in a car crash ten months later. But though Belz expectantly chomps a cheesesteak with fries at Phil’s Deli, Venchus never shows. Back in Vegas, Belz learns that his buddy has joined Brigid and Mark in the great beyond. He doesn’t think Venchus’ death is foul play until psychic Veronica Holmes hops a Greyhound through the desert to confront him. Veronica’s aunt, gossip columnist Constance Penroy, died shortly after Brigid, and Veronica’s sure their deaths are linked. Still skeptical, Belz goes with Veronica to meet Brigid’s mother. When her trailer bursts into flames moments after their visit, his detective instincts kick in for good.
Noncop, nonpsychic Belzer wisecracks his way from coast to coast.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4165-7089-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
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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