Fewer red herrings would have made this a better read, but Hayes’ tale succeeds despite them.
Told from the points of view of three women whose lives intertwine, Hayes (Someone Else’s Son, 2011, etc.) sets her new novel in Birmingham, England, and spins out a plot that twists and turns from beginning to the end.
While the idea isn’t new, and sometimes Hayes’ writing tends toward clunky, she scores a hit in this sometimes-discomfiting story of a very pregnant woman, a mysterious nanny involved with another woman who wants a baby, and a police investigator whose marriage and personal life are on the rocks. Claudia is a Royal Navy officer’s wife. A submariner, James leaves for long deployments, and Claudia has grown used to being apart. But this time, she’s ready to deliver a baby and is left alone with James’ young twin sons by his first marriage. They hire a nanny, Zoe, a woman with perfect references. However, Zoe is not only not named Zoe, she’s a total fabrication who is desperate in real life to please the unbalanced woman with whom she once lived. And Lorraine, a police detective and mother of two girls, has partnered with her cheating husband, Adam, also a detective, to investigate cases in which pregnant women are attacked and their babies cut from their wombs. Each woman takes turns recounting the events that propel the story forward, with Claudia and Zoe speaking in first person and Lorraine in third person, which sometimes seems odd but manages to work. Hayes builds suspense gradually, adding layer after layer to her tale until the ending, which delivers both frantic, page-turning pacing and a surprise ending. However, readers may find the story contrived in places—particularly where the stories of Lorraine and her husband intersect with the other two—and may ultimately feel a bit manipulated by the author rather than entertained.
Fewer red herrings would have made this a better read, but Hayes’ tale succeeds despite them.Pub Date: April 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8041-3689-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
An appealing, three-dimensional heroine and some clever plot twists make this an enjoyable, quick read.
In this mystery novel, somebody’s been killing the proprietors of a prestigious inn, and the newest innkeeper is determined to find out why before she becomes the next victim.
Doyle (The Infidelity Pact, 2008, etc.) is a self-described “foodie” and an avid cheerleader for the quaint village of East Hampton, New York, and she indulges both of these passions in this first installment of her new Hamptons Murder Mysteries series. Recently transplanted from California following a nasty divorce, 35-year-old protagonist Antonia Bingham has bought the Windmill Inn from the estate of Gordon Haslett, who died suddenly, apparently from a heart attack. An inventive, passionate chef, Antonia has just reopened the inn’s restaurant when she learns from two of her regulars, Len and Sylvia Powers, that the circumstances surrounding Gordon’s death were suspicious. Worse, he wasn’t the first owner of the inn to experience an untimely death. Now, strange things are happening to Antonia—someone removes a stepladder while she’s installing a light bulb, someone locks her in a supply closet, and more. Her new buddy, Joseph Fowler, a 60-something widower, joins in the amateur sleuthing as they try to sort out the possible motives of a multitude of suspects; Gordon, they discover, was universally disliked. Doyle is an enthusiastic guide for Long Island’s East End village; she details each street and shop, the spectacular beaches, and the unique play of sunlight that has been a siren call to artists for more than a century. She also gives readers plenty of opportunities to vicariously indulge in every mouthwatering bite that Antonia and her restaurant patrons consume—especially if the item is loaded with butter, sugar, or some other comforting dietary no-no. Doyle also pays careful attention to housing décor, wardrobe selections, and the hairstyles of every character, which perhaps stems from her experience as a screenwriter (Intern, 2009). The generally smooth prose maintains a gentle pace, although there are one or two unnecessarily awkward lead-ins, such as “an odd incident occurred that unnerved Antonia and once again gave her pause about her own mortality.” The dinner-table gathering of suspects isn’t an original device, but it’s fun and satisfying nonetheless.
An appealing, three-dimensional heroine and some clever plot twists make this an enjoyable, quick read.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9972701-4-3
Page Count: 410
Publisher: Dunemere Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good one in the tough school, in which private detective Marlowe is hired to investigate a blackmailing and finds himself bucking a well-run gang, several murders, and the D A's office. Hard-boiled, fast paced, plenty of action, some sensationalism. Not for conservatives.
Pub Date: Feb. 5, 1938
ISBN: 0394758285
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1938
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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