Not Alexander’s best mystery, but its continuing focus on the problems of mistaken identity (The Adventuress, 2016, etc.)...
An unlikely visitor from the past throws the lives of an aristocratic couple into disarray.
Lady Emily and her husband, sometime spy Colin Hargreaves, have traveled to Greece with their closest friends, Jeremy Sheffield and Margaret Michaels, to stay in the house on Santorini Emily inherited from her first husband, Philip, the Viscount Ashton, who died on safari soon after their marriage. Emily remembers him even less well than his old friend Colin. Before they leave, Emily gets a postcard addressed to Viscountess Ashton and thinks she catches glimpses of Philip on the trip, leaving her uneasy. Emily and Margaret, both interested in Greek and Roman history, are pleased to find an archaeological dig on Santorini. But Emily’s delight turns to discomfort when unexpected guests arrive, a man claiming to be Philip and a colleague badly injured in a fall. Although his physical appearance is changed by the 10 hard years since he allegedly died in 1888, the man seems to know so many intimate details of both Emily’s and Hargreaves’ lives that they’re hard-pressed to deny that he’s Philip. He claims to have been too ill and too poor to return until he found Emily married to his best friend. Philip, who’s decided not to claim his fortune, has been working at his passion, archaeology, and making extra money by selling items of trifling historical significance. Now he says he’s been attacked and threatened by the minions of a man who wants the tiny piece of a helmet he found that may have belonged to Achilles. The unsavory dealer doesn’t believe Philip’s claim that the relic has been stolen from him, and the threat has followed him to Santorini, putting the entire group in danger. As Emily struggles with her guilt, she resolves to find the truth about the helmet and come to terms with her mixed feelings.
Not Alexander’s best mystery, but its continuing focus on the problems of mistaken identity (The Adventuress, 2016, etc.) provides many opportunities for information on Greece’s glorious past along with some difficult choices for her intrepid heroine.Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-250-05827-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
By keeping the action limited to the college and its surrounding gossip network, James presents a sharply focused story that...
Murder on a college campus leads an informal investigator into interdepartmental drama that smacks of reality TV.
His longtime work in libraries has primed Charlie Harris (Six Cats a Slayin’, 2018, etc.) for lifelong learning. So when he has the opportunity to audit a class in the history of early medieval England at his alma mater, Athena College, Charlie jumps at the opportunity. He’s heard nothing but wonderful things about professor Carey Warriner, and the first day of class exceeds his expectations. There’s even another adult learner in the course, Dixie Belle Compton, who seems equal parts student and fashion plate. When Charlie chats briefly with Dr. Warriner after class, he overhears hints of some sort of conflict between the attractive professor and Dixie Belle. Not that it’s any of his business, but Charlie wonders how the two know each other outside class. Athena is apparently a hotbed of interdepartmental romantic scandals among the faculty. Although Dr. Warriner is married to a fellow professor, it’s possible that he’s been conducting himself with Dixie Belle on an informal basis. Charlie has a history of nosing his way into town gossip, so it’s natural for him to consult with his fellow Athenians about what might be going on, especially when Dixie Belle is killed before the second class meeting. Ably aided by large and ferociously friendly Maine Coon sidekick Diesel and his latest kitten addition, Ramses, Charlie uses his connections to separate fact from fiction. Will he be able to solve the case before the killer strikes again?
By keeping the action limited to the college and its surrounding gossip network, James presents a sharply focused story that celebrates the role of the armchair investigator and his informants.Pub Date: July 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-451-49112-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Filled with surprising twists and turns, this whodunit in a sullen town is a page-turner.
A young woman’s body is found smoldering in the fire pits of Campbell’s Run, Pennsylvania, and small-town police chief Dove Carnahan is on the case.
O’Dell (One of Us, 2014, etc.) returns with a captivating mystery. Who hated Camio Truly enough to not only bash her head in with a blunt object, but also ditch her body in a fiery grave? As Dove investigates, she’s assisted by Nolan, a gruff detective with the State Criminal Investigations Division and her sometime lover. Practically nobody lives in Campbell’s Run anymore, not since a sinkhole (which had been lurking underground after a mine fire) opened, sucking most of the town into its depths. Since then, Campbell’s Run has declined, as people with the means moved away to nearby Buchanan, so whoever dumped Camio’s body there must be a local. Even before Camio’s murder, the Truly family had had more than its share of troubles, including incarcerated sons and deaths by mayhem, but Dove is shocked at the apathy shown by Camio’s mother, the obese, television-addicted Shawna. Camio’s sister, Jessyca, a single mother, shows far more concern, although she makes little effort to hide her dislike of her younger, more ambitious sister. Yet under the thumb of matriarch Miranda Truly, Camio’s family clams up. Solving the case is further complicated now that Lucky Dombosky has been released from jail after serving 35 years for murdering Dove’s mother. Lucky claims Dove and her sister, Neely, framed him. Meanwhile Dove’s brother, Champ, has shown up, after his own long absence, with a precocious son in tow. O’Dell spins a fine tale, ratcheting up tension with every turn of the screw in Dove’s life and every downward spiral in the Truly family history.
Filled with surprising twists and turns, this whodunit in a sullen town is a page-turner.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4767-5595-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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