A satisfying, intricate thriller.
DS Adam Tyler investigates a baffling murder.
In this densely plotted novel, Tyler, nominally a cold case investigator, is recruited to help look into the death of a woman whose body is discovered in the Sheffield Botanical Garden. The reader sees a "nighthawker," illegally prospecting for treasure with a metal detector, unearth her hand and then flee, and in the morning, garden employees find it aboveground. The nighthawkers are the loosely connected members of a detectorist club prepared to break the law in the pursuit of treasure, after hours and on private property, and when the novel opens they have already explored an archaeological site and uncovered a cache of rare gold Roman coins. When the rest of the body is disinterred by the authorities, two of these coins are found on the woman's eyes; the mystery of her death and why the coins are there forms the backbone of the plot. But of course there are complications. The dead woman is Chinese, a student at Sheffield University, and she may or may not have been involved in the illegal export of plants; one of the nighthawkers was a close friend of hers; Tyler is warned off the case, first by an anonymous note and then by a beating; Sheffield's top hoodlum makes an apparently unconnected appearance, complicating Tyler's life; and Tyler's protégé, Mina Rabbani, suffers some angst-y moments. Readers familiar with Tyler and Rabbani will be glad to see them back, and though Tyler's openly gay identity is not a strong element of this episode, he still must negotiate moments of homophobia. The assorted nighthawkers, secondary suspects, and colleagues both true and dubious are all well drawn and mostly believable, though their many connections may seem a bit contrived.
A satisfying, intricate thriller.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-525-54205-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A novel hook introduces an otherwise standard cozy.
The risks mount as the oddball business venture Emma Westlake launched in A Plus One for Murder (2021) picks up steam.
It took a lot of guts, some ingenuity, and a little bit of prodding from her octogenarian pal, Dottie Adler, but it looks like A Friend for Hire, Emma’s service for folks who need someone to offer unconditional support in their hour of need, is going to be a decent earner after all. In addition to Dottie, who still pays Emma for having tea with her once a week, there are three other clients and a fourth in the works. But Kim Felder, Emma’s newest paying friend, comes with a lot of baggage. She’s sad and lonely because now that her kids are grown, she has no one who needs her. But she’s also really, really angry because her husband dumped her for his thin, blond secretary. Emma encourages Kim to vent her frustrations on paper, writing down all the things she’d like to do to her ex. Which might be good psychology but turns out to be terrible advice from a legal standpoint, since once someone actually does strangle that old cheat Roger, the list provides Deputy Jack Riordan ample evidence to arrest Kim. Now Emma has two problems: First, her client is in the hoosegow, and second, she’s fighting with Jack just as their relationship is moving from the “friends” to the “dating” column. There’s only one way to fix this mess, and it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out who has to crack this case.
A novel hook introduces an otherwise standard cozy.Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-59333-478-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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