Gripping, lyrical, brutally honest, and cruelly funny—a terrific crime novel and better character study.
Prosecutor Teodor Szacki makes it personal in a bleakly stylish mystery.
Miloszewski’s (Domofon, 2008, etc.) prosecutor Szacki returns to investigate a gruesome, puzzling murder in this follow-up to the phenomenally successful crime novels Entanglement (2010) and A Grain of Truth (2013). This time around, Szacki must uncover the strange fate of an unusual corpse: a skeleton of extremely recent vintage, the flesh chemically stripped from its bones. The procedure-heavy plot clicks satisfyingly into place, but the real draws here are Miloszewski’s richly drawn characters and playful, literary prose style. Szacki is an irresistible protagonist, glamorously chilly and handsome, driven by barely suppressed rage and possessed of a nagging, sarcastic wit that compulsively takes the measure of his surroundings (Olsztyn, Poland, depicted here as a gray, smudged, cold, rainy purgatory) and fellow humans with sardonic resignation. The supporting cast is equally compelling: Szacki’s ruthlessly efficient protégé contains hidden depths, his spirited girlfriend and resentful daughter make home life at least as interesting as chasing killers, and the piece’s villain proves memorably chilling. Domestic abuse provides the engine for the subsequent violence that pulls the rigorously sane and principled Szacki into a nightmarish crisis that tests his resolve—and feeds his rage—to an unprecedented degree, leading to a bruising climax both shocking and inevitable.
Gripping, lyrical, brutally honest, and cruelly funny—a terrific crime novel and better character study.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5039-3586-0
Page Count: 460
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
