A layered, engaging novel powered by likable characters.
Local controversies, family secrets, and interpersonal tiffs boil over and cause chaos on an idyllic island in Boyer’s cozy mystery.
The Sullivan’s Island Supper Club was initially the idea of Tallulah Wentworth’s best friend, Eugenia; she thought it would help Tallulah emerge from overwhelming grief over the death of her husband, Henry. However, 10 years later, Eugenia has passed on, and an influx of new residents—including author Sarabeth Boone and her consultant husband, Tucker, not to mention stay-at-home parent Libba Graham and her woodworker spouse, Jake—has caused the club to become the small island’s most sought-after gathering place—a forum for discussing family matters and local politics over lavish catered meals. The club meetings grow tense as controversy swirls over what to do about Sullivan’s Island’s local marine forests: Should they be cut down to preserve seaside views or left intact to prevent erosion? The conflict comes to a head when an initially friendly neighborhood meet-and-greet turns nasty and someone turns up dead in the Boones’ front yard—an event that could change the island forever. Boyer, a prolific author of wholesome fiction set in the American South, delivers another delicious installment of her Carolina Tales series with this multidimensional mystery. Bestselling author Boyer delivers everything one could want from a cozy whodunit: an idyllic setting, ripe for sabotage; a community torn as residents feel nostalgia for the small-town intimacy they once cherished; and hairline fractures in friendships, marriages, and families. She relates the story in flashbacks and alternating third-person points of view in a milieu of complex and relatable characters. Overall, this beach read offers a masterclass in suspense that will keep Boyer’s readers guessing to the end.
A layered, engaging novel powered by likable characters.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781959023319
Page Count: 378
Publisher: Stella Maris Books, LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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