Shames has created an endearing hero with an old-fashioned sense of honor. Although his latest is less puzzling than its...
A small-town chief of police acquires a dog en route to solving a vicious case of murder.
Samuel Craddock, who’s come out of retirement to run the local police department on a shoestring, finds his resources stretched when Margaret Wilkins reports her husband missing. Dr. Lewis Wilkins, last seen leaving the couple’s vacation home on Jarrett Creek Lake, told his wife he was going fishing. When Craddock interviews Dooley Phillips, a friend of Wilkins' who owns a local marina and claims to have no clue where he could be, Craddock thinks he’s lying. Craddock’s also uneasy over a number of cases of dognapped pets and the rumor that there’s a dogfighting ring in the area that may be using them as bait. He has to wonder if the rumor is true when Wilkins’ badly mauled body is discovered in the woods. At first it seems he was attacked by feral dogs, but dogs surely didn’t tie him up before they attacked. While searching the woods, Craddock stumbles upon a starving puppy whose mother he finds dead, and he goes from temporary dogsitter to devoted pet owner. He learns that Wilkins’ life was a complicated one. He lost a major malpractice suit that left his family in financial trouble. Both his children are angry with their parents, and his wife seems oddly indifferent to his fate. He never did any fishing, but he did own a cabin cruiser he won in a poker game that Dooley somehow never mentioned. When Craddock finally finds Wilkins’ missing vehicle, it contains a handgun and $200,000 in cash. Is the money from gambling on dogfights? Craddock’s one childhood experience at a dogfight has given him a visceral hatred for the cruelty involved. Although he’s warned that it’s dangerous to meddle, he continues to hunt for answers.
Shames has created an endearing hero with an old-fashioned sense of honor. Although his latest is less puzzling than its most recent predecessor (An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock, 2017), it’s still an enjoyable, often disturbing read.Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63388-367-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
As usual, Coben piles on the plot twists, false leads, violent set pieces and climactic surprises with the unfocused...
After six years of spinning jaw-dropping stand-alone thrillers, Coben brings back his sports agent—make that everything agent—Myron Bolitar (Darkest Fear, 2000, etc.) for an encore.
Overhearing high-school senior Erin Wilder, his current ladylove’s daughter, sharing confidences with her friend Aimee Biel about getting driven by wasted friends, Myron Bolitar promises both girls that if they ever need a ride, they can call him and he’ll pick them up, no questions asked. All too soon he gets a chance to deliver. Aimee phones him from midtown Manhattan, where he just happens to be staying, and asks him to drive her to suburban New Jersey. Myron obliges but pushes a bit too hard with the questions, and Aimee vanishes into a strange house. The next day she’s still missing, and in jig time the police, armed with Myron’s credit-card slips and EZ-Pass records, come calling. It turns out that Myron’s not a credible suspect. But because everybody connects Aimee’s disappearance to that of fellow student Katie Rochester three months ago, Myron’s on the hook with some serious people, from Aimee’s parents, who beg him to bring her home, to Katie’s mobbed-up dad, who’s too proud to beg but has other ways of getting him to cooperate.
As usual, Coben piles on the plot twists, false leads, violent set pieces and climactic surprises with the unfocused intensity that have made his thrillers (The Innocent, 2005, etc.) such a hot ticket.Pub Date: April 25, 2006
ISBN: 0-525-94949-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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