Ham-fisted—in both the pointedly ethnic characterizations and the clearly obvious identity of the murderer—and eminently...
Officer Laura Mori’s first case uncovers something sinister lurking in the bucolic woods of Oregon.
Fresh from the academy, Laura is dispatched to what at first appears to be a straightforward DUI. The wrecked vintage sports car belongs to local author, celebrity, and benefactor Kent Jameson, and the driver appears to be his missing, troubled teen daughter, Lucy. But this case is definitely a homicide: the car’s brakes were deliberately cut. As forensics works to identify the body, Noonan (Domestic Secrets, 2015, etc., as Rosalind Noonan) intersperses the disappointed expectations of Laura’s Japanese-American parents and her unrequited crush on the boy next door with generic evil soliloquies by the serial killer. The diary in Lucy’s room indicates she was in a relationship with an older man she called A, perhaps A as in Andy Greenleaf, the handsome ranch hand on the Jameson estate. It turns out the victim of that anything-but-accidental accident was not Lucy but an orphaned runaway who was drugged. Lucy, meanwhile, is living with a band of runaways in the forest led by a charismatic survivalist they call the Prince. Is this a murderous cult? Or is something else waiting in the dark shadows of the trees?
Ham-fisted—in both the pointedly ethnic characterizations and the clearly obvious identity of the murderer—and eminently forgettable.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62953-773-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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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