Author

Danise Hoover

Review

All My Bones

by Danise Hoover

On this second visit to The Old Juniper Bookshop in Enigma, Georgia, on a Sunday morning in April, shop owner Madeline and friend Gloria, an Episcopal priest, act on the notion to prep the bleak front lawn of the shop for planting roses. Unfortunately, they uncover the body of the town’s most difficult and wealthy citizen instead. Circumstances make Gloria the prime suspect and, of course, Madeline must save her friend. There is the influence of money, old family disputes, and a wonderful wealth of small-town gossip that also fuels the situation, a not-actually-haunted haunted opera house, not-for-sale rare books that actually are, and a very erudite gardener/poet. Maddie and her cohort work against the wisdom that says to leave things alone and of course solve the crime. In the end there is justice, and a bit of romance. Perhaps even the rosebushes will get planted. Will we make it back to Enigma, maybe in the Fall? I wouldn’t be surprised.

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Review

A Slowly Dying Cause

by Danise Hoover

Characters of all sorts and types, many unpleasant at best, fill the pages of this, the 22nd Inspector Lynley novel. There is a complicated scheme to buy the land or mineral rights in an area of Cornwall to mine lithium. The sleazy agent of the mining company finds the murdered body of Michael Lobb, tin craftsman and major holdout to the plan, and thus begins the search…for the weapon, for the motive, for the truth of the matter that forms the rest of the skillfully built puzzle that makes up the book. Bea Hannaford is in charge of the case (old friend Lynley doesn’t show up until much later) and focuses on Kayla, the the very much younger wife of Michael; his ex-wife; and his grown children as suspects. The story is eerily filled in by Michael himself in chapters interspersed with those on on the investigation. Even though all the alleys, many blind, are followed, it is the tiny pieces and astonishing happenstance that bring everything to a factual, reasonable end, with Lindley of course providing wisdom. After all this time, it’s gratifying to see how the author can take this tangled skein of a story and piece it out to a smooth conclusion.

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Review

The Dark Library

by Danise Hoover

This old-fashioned gothic thriller (appropriate since our lead character has a PhD specializing in that genre) is set in WWII-era academia in New York’s Hudson Valley. Estella, or E as she prefers to be called, has been summoned home by Annie, the family retainer, because E’s mother has gone missing. In the time it takes E to pack up her life in Boston and return, her father has a stroke, can no longer communicate, and dies within days. Despite her Yale degree, the fusty local college where her father held sway employs E as a research assistant, typing for the male faculty members. The tiny salary requires E and Annie to live in penury in E’s parents’ elaborate house, all the while searching for clues to her mother’s whereabouts. Dragging the river finds a body of a missing student from years before, and persistence eventually finds a clue that leads to finding E’s mother. A suicide, unexpected allies, false and true friends, and bitter revelations about the past and present all lead to the dramatic “act of God” ending that such a story requires. Great fun!

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Review

The Hidden City

by Danise Hoover

Charles Lenox, detective in Victorian London, has been with readers now through 15 adventures, starting as a rank beginner but gaining a stable family life and a thriving agency with a range of detectives covering all sorts of cases. He is set to meet his cousin’s daughter, who’s arriving from India after her father’s death, as he has been named her guardian. He is drawn out of recovery from his last perilous case by his old housekeeper and a strange connection to an unsolved murder from years ago, with the “why” far more important than the “who.” As in the previous novels, the mystery is important, but it is the setting of Victorian society and mores that makes it all come alive. Times are changing though: Charles’s wife, Lady Jane, is demonstrating in public for women’s suffrage and his niece wants to study economics, but as yet class and status rule over all. Traveling through London with Charles and his cohorts is a treat, and the next excursion is likely to be as well.

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Review

Murder on a Scottish Train

by Danise Hoover

It’s hard to believe that Dr. Emilia (Em) McRoy has been in Sea Isle, Scotland for a year. She moved from Seattle to the village to take over as doctor and, to her surprise, as the local coroner as well. In this fourth outing (previous titles include Death at a Scottish Christmas) in the series, she and her family of friends become involved in the death of a local accountant and train fancier on the opening night of a restored historic train ride. Ewan, local Laird, constable, and her sometime nemesis, has decided it’s easier to include her in the investigation than to rescue her from the scrapes she gets herself into when she goes off by herself. With suspicion of financial skullduggery, there are plenty of suspects, but no one stands out; we have anaphylaxis, cheating spouses, and estranged siblings. The charming customs and landscape enhance the story as Em continues to settle into the folklife and tempo of the village and, of course, solves the crime. The engaging characters and tightly worked plot will leave readers eager for the next installment.

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Review

What He Left Behind

by Danise Hoover

Oak Hill, NC is a town where nothing much in the way of crime happens. Then, in the space of a few days, there is murder, robbery, and arson. Jacob Sawyer, someone who hasn’t been seen for 15 years, is back in town, though no one thinks he is the cause. Grace Bingham, local police detective and Jacob’s abandoned love interest from before, is under time pressure to solve the crimes without offending anyone important. Jacob’s back because his mother, beloved in the town, is dying of cancer; Calvin Dockery, an extremely wealthy local who pulls all the strings, is also dying. The current crimes harken to unexplained events of the past that caused Jacob to leave. The story moves from the present to the past and back again, gradually revealing what happened. Grace and Jacob are undeterred in their search to connect what is happening now with what happened in the past regardless of who is involved. Money is power, and power is very dangerous here, and those with it are willing to spare no one. Resolution is not easy, but very satisfying in a book with a great deal of atmosphere and local resonance.

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Review

Making Friends Can Be Murder

by Danise Hoover

We start this complicated plot with a clever ongoing fraud scheme in which a woman assumes the same name as another with a common name and a trust fund in order to steal the money. In Minneapolis, Sarah Jones has become part of a project of a Catholic highschooler doing penance for bad behavior, bringing together a bunch of women with this same name for regular coffee and conversation, making it ripe for this fraud. To avoid confusion, each member is identified by age rather than name. Thirty is our heroine; twenty-seven the thief. Added into the mix is a freshly minted FBI agent with his own secret agenda (not nefarious) and a cloistered nun with an unexpected background. A Sarah Jones, not part of the group, is found murdered, taking the fraud investigation to a new level. We have time spent in the woods, old crimes to solve, family connections, and a spot of romance. Confused? Don’t be. The story maintains its integrity and is enjoyable to the end with an interesting set of characters poised for what could be another book in the future.

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Review

The Devil’s Kitchen: A Murder in Yellowstone

by Danise Hoover

A reader may justifiably expect this book to be set in the American west, but this work, a two-novel combination, begins with the French neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David and and the French Revolution. The modern-day mystery is set in Yellowstone National Park, where seasonal ranger and retired Fort Worth cop Clarence Johnson discovers a corpse as an unplanned part of his tour of park history. It connects him with Park Service Police Investigator Allison Nance and DEA Agent LaFleur, and after some struggle to get his creds recognized, Johnson joins the investigation. LaFleur is convinced that this death is drug related and does everything to make the evidence fit his theory. Johnson is pretty sure it is not and works to persuade Nance to be open minded. Nance’s specialty is art history; the painter Thomas Moran is said to have much to do with Yellowstone being the first National Park, and art as evidence crops up often in this case. Chapters alternate between the past and the present, with an artifact of French royalty at the center of intrigue in both time frames. While it is somewhat unusual to have so much time spent in the past, it is necessary here to set the stage. The interpretation of the artistic clues is a bit stretched, but essential to the conclusion. This could be an interesting series, and I hope to see further adventures of Nance and Johnson, along with Tripod, his three-legged rescue dog.

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Review

The Witch’s Orchard

by Danise Hoover

We don’t know anything about Annie when Max hires her to find his sister, Molly. Molly has been missing for 10 years, and Max has been saving all that time to hire a PI. Max is from rural Kentucky, as is Annie—from a different part, but close enough to matter. Ten years ago, three little girls went missing and were replaced by applehead dolls: Jessica; then Olivia, who was returned; then Molly. Olivia, autistic and non-verbal, has never been able to convey anything that happened. No one but Max and Jessica’s mother wants answers, it seems, but Annie is as dogged as the job requires. As we unravel what the town is about, we also unravel this investigator and find that her past and her ethos blend nearly seamlessly with what she finds. Corruption; abuse; meth labs surrounded by achingly beautiful landscapes; wonderful, goodhearted, traditional people; and downright creeps make up the puzzle she needs to unravel. In a wonderful combination of mountain lore and history, false heroes and major new friends, readers see a picture of backwoods Kentucky that is authentic and engaging. It would be wonderful to see more from this author.

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Review

Murder Runs in the Family

by Danise Hoover

As Amber approaches a luxury Arizona retirement community, she is truly at the end of her possibilities. All her worldly goods are in her backpack, she’s coming off a really bad breakup, and i
she’s looking to mooch off a grandmother she has never met. Amber’s mother has essentially blackballed grandma, but as mom is eternally disappointed in Amber, the young woman hopes to make a connection with her grandma. And oh my, does she! Grandma Judith, now known as Jade, is the glamorous leader of a crime-podcasting pack of residents. The physical resemblance is striking, and as Amber has been working for three years with her PI boyfriend, Bones, hoping to qualify for her own license, so is the subject expertise. The night she arrives, one of the podcast members dies under suspicious circumstances in the studio, and all are suspects. In order to earn her keep, Amber searches for information and for the dead man’s missing tortoise. Then an ex-boyfriend shows up, Jade is arrested, and it is up to Amber to figure things out with the help of a temporarily disabled veterinarian and a nurse. People are not who they seem, a major clue is concealed in the most unlikely place, and above all, Amber grows up and comes to terms with herself and her family. There are good characters here, and an insightful look at senior living.

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