Fighting compulsive gambling and consequent mental problems, estrangement from his wife and children and homelessness, Leo...
Newspaper gumshoe yarn from the author of Final Season (2002).
Fighting compulsive gambling and consequent mental problems, estrangement from his wife and children and homelessness, Leo Desroches—half Cree, half French-Canadian—has dragged himself off the streets and into the newsroom of a busy Edmonton daily newspaper. When Leo's first on the scene when a corpse is found in a field outside the city, a sympathetic detective gives him unprecedented access to the crime-scene tent, and his scoop is that the victim was a young Native prostitute. Unfortunately, Leo is still a compulsive gambler and robs banks to feed his addiction—all it takes is a note passed to the teller and a look of determination. The police drag their feet over the case, yet Leo learns from the victim's friends that girls all avoid a yellow pickup. More, Leo finds a series of similar crimes going back decades, but again the police show no interest. The paper's editor, whom Leo once hired, gives Leo the job of Aboriginal Issues reporter, an assignment he accepts reluctantly, though it does help him reconnect with his Cree roots. Then a retired detective, Mike Gardiner, gives Leo an old, stolen file whose contents threaten to expose wrongdoing among swaths of the Edmonton Police Service's brass. Regrettably, watching Leo piece his life back together is far more rewarding than observing his fitful and inexpert investigations of typical crimes where motives are obvious, evidence lacking and suspects in short supply.Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2417-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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