An engaging, if sometimes dauntingly complex, whodunit.
In McCarthy and Dohar’s thriller, an ex-cleric and his friend must solve a poetic puzzle that may be connected to multiple murders.
Myles Dunn, a former Jesuit priest (and “self-professed adrenaline junky…who happens to be a polyglot with an advanced degree in world religions”), is lured back to his alma mater by his “one-time fellow Jesuit and best mate,” Jeremy Strand, with an email that promises the solution to a mystery. Upon his arrival in Oxford, England, from Colorado, he finds a community rattled by the horrific murder of an altar boy, which bigots believe was committed by someone from the local Muslim immigrant community. Strand, an esoteric Jesuit and poetry scholar, has discovered a hidden meaning in one of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ lost “dark” sonnets. Specifically, he believes that Hopkins, a fellow Jesuit and brilliant and idiosyncratic Victorian poet, wrote this poem in an effort to reveal the “quasi-historical legend” of the Cuxham Chalice, a priceless artifact from the time of the Lumen, a secret religious sect founded during the reign of King Henry VIII. When Strand goes missing—and another murder, similar to the first, is committed—Myles and Oxford librarian Eva Bashir must race to solve the poetic riddle and find out who’s behind the crimes. They soon discover that the culprit will go to any length to keep their secret hidden. Fans of Dan Brown’s historical thrillers, particularly the bestselling The Da Vinci Code(2003), are likely to best appreciate McCarthy and Dohar’s dive into the complex and mysterious history of “the self-proclaimed ‘keepers of the Grail.’ ” The plot’s use of the work of Hopkins, a complicated author who often invented his own words, gives readers a clever character to explore. However, the intricate poetic devices at play, which include reverse acrostics, sprung rhythm, sestets, and octets, may be confusing to those who are unfamiliar with serious study of formal poetry. That said, it remains an intriguing thriller to the end.
An engaging, if sometimes dauntingly complex, whodunit.Pub Date: June 24, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 426
Publisher: De Profundis Books
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.
Lt. Eve Dallas’ 63rd futuristic case is less a whodunit than a manhunt for an unusually sympathetic killer.
Thirteen years ago, way back in 2048, scientific genius Steve Redman—father of the Banner-Wyst corporation’s Rainmaker Project—narrowly escaped death in a gas explosion that killed his pregnant wife and infant son and 200 other residents of their New York City apartment building the night before he planned to report his suspicions about the company to the FBI. Now the bill is coming due for Banner-Wyst. The first death to be discovered is that of Lawrence Chu, Redman’s colleague and trusted friend, whose tenure as director of bioengineering science ends when he’s beaten to death. For quite a while, Dallas and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, know less about this mystery than their readers do. But when Ezra Dent, a consultant to Banner-Wyst who worked with Redman and Chu back in the day, is murdered in exactly the same ferocious way, Dallas and Peabody, with help from Roarke, Dallas’ tech-billionaire husband, promptly put the pieces together and determine who they’re looking for. The search for Redman, who went AWOL from his hospital bed without a trace six years ago, has its own challenges. So does Dallas’ attempt to get cooperation from partners Calvin Banner and Jacob Wyst, who are clearly in the crosshairs of a killer who seems a lot less monstrous than they are. If the breaks in the case are suspiciously convenient in arriving, readers can pride themselves on taking sides against a mega-corporation whose self-avowed ecological saintliness is undermined by its leaders’ underhanded dealing.
A satisfying thriller that will warm the hearts of fans who already take comfort in hating the forces of evil.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9781250414564
Page Count: 368
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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