A pleasant excursion into the wild of the rural Northwest.
Several storylines converge in a remote town in Washington.
The gruesome murder of Dr. Robert Dennen in the tiny town of Ludlow, Washington, is beyond the capabilities of its police force to investigate, so a team is dispatched from Seattle. Homicide detective Alice Madison, her partner, Sgt. Kevin Brown, and crime scene investigator Amy Sorensen arrive the next day and begin a systematic and credible investigation. The primary suspect is Jeb Tanner, a cranky iconoclast living off the grid. The father of a number of children, he had quarreled with Dr. Dennen, who feared some of the children were suffering abuse. Before Tanner can be interviewed, there is a second murder, and it transpires that Tanner had also quarreled with the second victim. But Tanner has alibis for both crimes, and his confident defiance unsettles the investigators. Interwoven with this narrative are two others: Samuel, one of Tanner's sons, goes about his difficult duties at the homestead and in the woods, suffering his father's capricious demands and cruel punishments. This thread is paralleled by flashbacks to Madison's childhood and the miseries she suffered as a 12-year-old runaway captured by an austere woodsman. This experience is recalled in force as Madison gets to know Samuel and justifies her fierce determination to help him. But the investigation takes a different course when diligent police work reveals a wholly different suspect and motives, and the connection between Madison and Samuel plays no part in unmasking the murderer. It is revived in a coda but seems somewhat contrived at that point. This is a generally agreeable thriller, if a little low-key, and Madison is a sturdy character, but the sideshows detract from the main event.
A pleasant excursion into the wild of the rural Northwest.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63506-061-4
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Mobius
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This ran in the S.E.P. and resulted in more demands for the story in book form than ever recorded. Well, here it is and it is a honey. Imagine ten people, not knowing each other, not knowing why they were invited on a certain island house-party, not knowing their hosts. Then imagine them dead, one by one, until none remained alive, nor any clue to the murderer. Grand suspense, a unique trick, expertly handled.
Pub Date: Feb. 21, 1939
ISBN: 0062073478
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1939
SEEN & HEARD
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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