When her husband was found dead in his office, Langlos, like the cops, was sure he'd been murdered—but the L.A. coroner's office ruled that he'd died of natural causes. Here, coauthored by Detroit Free Press reporter Niemiec, is the story of how Langlos spent 15 years trying to change that ruling—a potentially gripping tale of botched autopsies and bureaucratic frustrations that's given a mawkish, tabloid-like treatment. When, in February 1976, the body of clinical psychologist Jack Langlos was discovered, blood stained his office walls, and his gashed head was wedged under his desk—but the autopsy report gave the cause of death as ``occlusive coronary artery disease.'' As the authors demonstrate, it was the policy of L.A.'s then-coroner, Thomas Noguchi, never to have his underlings list ``undetermined'' as a cause of death. The attending coroner didn't believe the blow to Langlos's head was fatal and testified that, perhaps, the deceased had banged his head while suffering a heart attack. Eventually, though, Eugene Hartman—a physician-colleague of Langlos's who'd borrowed a small amount of money from him—was arrested for forging one of the deceased's checks while using his driver's license and credit card. Hartman went to jail for forgery but didn't face murder charges until 1982. Found guilty, he served three years before being released on a technicality. Here, Ruth Langlos—who describes herself as ``a classy, long-stemmed rose with blonde hair, a shapely figure and red, luscious lips''- -recounts her struggle with grief and depression. She tells of visits to a psychic, stints in a mental hospital, and her consulting of a ``thanatologist'' who, she says, warned her to leave town and change her name because her life was in danger- -though she specifies no threat from Hartman or anyone else. ``I'm willing to risk my life for justice!'' proclaims Langlos—but while her tenacity is admirable, her melodramatic writing does her cause an injustice. (First printing of 20,000)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-88282-078-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: New Horizon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1993
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
The parts with Nero Wolfe, the only character Goldsborough brings to life, are almost worth waiting for.
In Archie Goodwin's 15th adventure since the death of his creator, Rex Stout, his gossipy Aunt Edna Wainwright lures him from 34th Street to his carefully unnamed hometown in Ohio to investigate the death of a well-hated bank president.
Tom Blankenship, the local police chief, thinks there’s no case since Logan Mulgrew shot himself. But Archie’s mother, Marjorie Goodwin, and Aunt Edna know lots of people with reason to have killed him. Mulgrew drove rival banker Charles Purcell out of business, forcing Purcell to get work as an auto mechanic, and foreclosed on dairy farmer Harold Mapes’ spread. Lester Newman is convinced that Mulgrew murdered his ailing wife, Lester’s sister, so that he could romance her nurse, Carrie Yeager. And Donna Newman, Lester’s granddaughter, might have had an eye on her great-uncle’s substantial estate. Nor is Archie limited to mulling over his relatives’ gossip, for Trumpet reporter Verna Kay Padgett, whose apartment window was shot out the night her column raised questions about the alleged suicide, is perfectly willing to publish a floridly actionable summary of the leading suspects that delights her editor, shocks Archie, and infuriates everyone else. The one person missing is Archie’s boss, Nero Wolfe (Death of an Art Collector, 2019, etc.), and fans will breathe a sigh of relief when he appears at Marjorie’s door, debriefs Archie, notices a telltale clue, prepares dinner for everyone, sleeps on his discovery, and arranges a meeting of all parties in Marjorie’s living room in which he names the killer.
The parts with Nero Wolfe, the only character Goldsborough brings to life, are almost worth waiting for.Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5040-5988-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
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