Rei’s tenth adventure (Girl in a Box, 2006, etc.) meanders a bit, but the upbeat narrative and resourceful heroine make for...
Even on vacation, hyper-curious Rei Shimura can’t resist probing a dangerous old mystery.
When elderly Toshiro Shimura survives a stroke, his daughter Rei fulfills a personal commitment to take care of him. Her promise puts a strain on her two part-time careers as an antiques dealer and undercover spy. And when Toshira receives an invitation from a long-lost relative named Edwin inviting him to a family reunion in Hawaii, Rei can’t bear to be the party pooper, even though she’s slightly suspicious of this overly friendly newfound cousin. Nevertheless, after telling her boss and sometime lover, commitment-phobic Michael Hendricks, what she’ll be doing, Rei dives into the three-week odyssey with typical verve. It doesn’t take long to learn that Edwin has an ulterior motive. He wants Toshiro’s help in recovering a piece of property he believes was stolen from him during World War II. At a coffee bar called Aloha Morning, Rei flirts with owner Kainoa Stevens and learns more about Josiah Pierce, the alleged disreputable land baron. A little research uncovers the curious fact that all the landowners whose property passed to Pierce Holdings were women. The case soon reaches a boiling point. Luckily, both Michael and ex-lover Hugh join Kainoa on the scene, so that it’s raining men.
Rei’s tenth adventure (Girl in a Box, 2006, etc.) meanders a bit, but the upbeat narrative and resourceful heroine make for an appealing read.Pub Date: June 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7278-6601-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Severn House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2008
Hill’s debut is a chilling psychological thriller with an unusual heroine and a page-turning storyline.
A woman who uses her research skills to track down missing people finds herself over her head in a dangerous case.
Hester Thursby has taken a leave from her library job at Harvard to help her boyfriend, Morgan, care for Kate, the little daughter of Daphne, his twin sister and Hester’s best friend. When she gets a call from Lila Blaine of New Hampshire, who wants her to find Sam, the brother who’s been missing for 12 years, she’s attracted by the promise of mental stimulation and extra money. Lila gives Hester a stack of postcards from all over the United States, each composed of photos her brother presumably took himself and a single sentence. Sam ran away with Gabe DiPursio, a 14-year-old foster child who was staying with Lila and him at the time. Lila admits the reason she wants to find Sam is because she’s selling a valuable piece of lake property. After talking to Gabe’s former foster mother and the social worker he had at the time, Hester, using the most recent postcards as clues, discovers that Sam and Gabe are living in Boston, where Sam’s posing as Aaron Gewirtzman, a young college graduate who was killed in an accident. She doesn’t know that the pair have left a trail of disaster in their wake: Sam has used his charm and good looks to hook up with wealthy women while Gabe uses his computer skills to raise money to tide them over between marks. Sam’s currently preoccupied by the wealthy socialite he’s dating, but Gabe, who meets Hester when she scopes them out by pretending to be looking for an apartment to rent, becomes totally fixated on her. Real danger threatens Hester when she learns too much about their past and present.
Hill’s debut is a chilling psychological thriller with an unusual heroine and a page-turning storyline.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4967-1590-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
A suspenseful tale of hypocrisy, greed, and cunning finally overcome by social conscience.
A pair of Regency sleuths take on a miscarriage of justice in the past that leads to murders in the present.
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, despises injustice in every form, and his wife, Hero, is a committed reformer even though her father, Lord Jarvis, is cousin to the Prince Regent and a major power behind the throne (Who Slays the Wicked, 2019, etc.). Shortly after Hero spots a child watching their house, Devlin’s valet, Jules Calhoun, goes out and returns with news that someone he knows has been murdered. Nicholas Hayes, youngest son of the late Earl of Seaforth, was convicted of murder, sent to Australia, and thought to have died. But now he’s returned with Ji, a child he’s brought from China, only to be stabbed to death with a sickle in Pennington’s Tea Gardens. Why would Hayes risk his life to return to England, where he would be hanged if caught? The question plagues Devlin as he reconsiders the evidence that led to the conviction of Hayes. He revisits the scandal that was hushed up back when Hayes was accused of kidnapping the daughter of a wealthy man and shooting to death a married woman on whom he’d reportedly set his eye. The other suspects, all wealthy and well-connected, include Hayes’ cousin Ethan, who’s succeeded to the title since Hayes' two older brothers died before their father, and the Comte de Compans, whose wife he was convicted of killing. The more he learns of Hayes, the more Devlin is convinced he was an innocent man who took the blame for things he never did, including kidnapping Theo Brownbeck’s daughter, Katherine, with whom he was actually eloping and whom Brownbeck immediately married off to Sir Lindsey Forbes, a power in the East India Company. Hayes’ murder is followed by the deaths of several of his enemies. If Hayes were alive, Devlin would suspect him; since he’s not, Devlin and Hero risk their lives following clues no one wants to see uncovered.
A suspenseful tale of hypocrisy, greed, and cunning finally overcome by social conscience.Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-399-58568-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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