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Review

Review

The Christmas Guest

by Brian Kenney

A brilliantly taut novella set over Christmas in 1989 England, revisited from the perspective of present-day New York. Ashley Smith is an American college student spending her junior year in London. An orphan, she has no holiday plans, until another student, Emma Chapman—they’re barely friends—invites her to her family’s manor house in the country. For an American, it’s pretty much “cozy Cotswold heaven”: a rambling home filled with cousins and friends, pine boughs and holly, smelly dogs and board games, plenty of alcohol, nightly hikes to the village pub, and absolutely no heat. Much of the narrative comes through Ashley’s diary, which is a real hoot in its Bridget Jones-ness, especially when she’s reporting on Adam, Emma’s supremely handsome brother. Except things start to get weird. A strange, little man is seen lurking on the wooded shortcut to the pub. Then Ashley learns that Adam is suspected of murdering a local girl several months before—but proof is lacking. Despite being short enough to read in one sitting, maybe with a pot of tea at the midpoint, this skillfully constructed work of crime fiction still manages to provide plenty of shock and awe.

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Review

Veil of Doubt

by Henrietta Thornton

Terrible accusations against women who lack a man to give them standing are mainstays of history and literature, and Virts’s spellbinding work brings to mind related tales by Anita Shreve, Margaret Atwood, and, of course, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Emily Lloyd is a widow and childless since her children have died; the last one, Maud, was the final straw for her Reconstruction-era Virginia neighbors. She’s now accused of killing little Maud, Annie, George, and Henry, as well as her husband and aunt. What transpires is a medical and legal drama, based on a true story, that pits affable lawyer Powell Harrison against a prosecutor and a town that hates his client. It doesn’t help that Lloyd’s uncle was an outspoken abolitionist, nor that she lives next door to two mysterious sisters, one of whom is known to take gentlemen callers. But Powell just might be able to free Emily using his wiles and openness to scientific methods of finding the truth, both of which contribute greatly to creating an excellent read.

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Review

The Last One

by Brian Kenney

Thrillers, for me, are like palate cleansers. Every few weeks, I need to immerse myself in an action-packed, plot-driven narrative full of fear, anxiety, and tension that pushes me to read at full throttle. But I was in no way prepared for the absolute terror of The Last One. Fifty-something Caz wakes up on an ocean liner that’s hugely similar to the Queen Mary 2—it’s even on a transatlantic voyage, QM2’s signature trip—only to find that her partner, Pete, is missing. But that’s just the beginning. It seems that every other passenger and the entire crew is AWOL. The idea of rattling across the Atlantic in a deserted ocean liner is scary enough, but when Caz discovers three more passengers, things take a decidedly darker turn. What’s incredible is how far Dean goes with his storyline, pushing relentlessly to up the fear factor, creating one scenario more terrifying than the last. At the same time, we learn about Caz’s troubled family, and what in her past helps to keep her alive in the present. One wild ride that is not to be missed.

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Review

Rabbit Hole

by Henrietta Thornton

Theodora, or Teddy, Angstrom’s father, died by suicide at the 10-year anniversary of her older sister, Angie’s, disappearance as a teenager. Her mother is now to be found lying on the floor with her ancient dog, “Two commas facing one another, small nothing between them.” It’s up to Teddy to make arrangements, exhausted though she is with her teaching job on top of this unwanted task. While doing so, she discovers that her father was on a relentless quest to find Angie, and his failure seems to have been the last straw. Learning that Angie’s disappearance is a hot topic on the message-board site Reddit, where Teddy also finds details about another young woman who disappeared and was found to have run away from her abusive family, sparks curiosity in Teddy. It soon turns to obsession as the amateur sleuth meets a strange, needy young woman who was helping Teddy’s father with his detective work and starts getting messages from a stranger who might know more about Angie’s fate, if she can only find him. As the twisting tale unwinds, unsavory details about fans of true crime, and of message boards where vicious and glib voyeurs can anonymously post intimate questions and tacky rumors about crime victims, will open readers’ eyes to survivors’ reality. A gritty, realistically ambivalent look at how insiders and outsiders experience crime, with a realistic main character to boot.

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Review

One Last Kill

by Jeff Ayers

A newspaper retrospective of an unsolved killing spree brings back more than memories in Dugoni’s latest thriller. The Route 99 serial killer seemed to stop almost three decades ago, but why? The upcoming article reflecting on the murders has Tracy Crosswhite investigating the cold case with Johnny Nolasco, her superior, whom she does not get along with. He ran the original task force, and failing to deliver a suspect still haunts him. The two must overcome their differences to see if they can find justice and bring closure to the victims’ families. The clues lead to the horrific possibility that renewed exposure will cause the killer to strike again. Though this is the 10th Tracy Crosswhite, newcomers will savor the story, while Dugoni fans will love how he ties up several storylines from earlier novels. Few authors deliver consistently stellar crime fiction, and Dugoni is one of those writers. Michael Connelly fans should have this series on their reading pile.

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Review

Murder in an Italian Village

by Jeff Ayers

This first in a series, set in Italy’s magical Positano—that’s the much-photographed town on the Amalfi coast that’s clinging to a mountainside—promises plenty and delivers even more. Bria Bartolucci is a young widow intent on fulfilling her late husband’s dream of opening a B&B in Positano. And with help from her eight-year-old son, Marco; her best friend, Rosalie; sister; parents; Giovanni the handsome handyman; Bravo the dog; a nun; and several more characters, it looks like Bella Bella will open on schedule. Until a bloody corpse—oh mio dio!—is found spread out on a bed in a guest bedroom. But Bria is going to need more than God’s help to solve this mystery and restore her reputation, especially with her misfortune the lead story on the Positano gossip circuit. How will Bella Bella survive? There’s so much to love in this series’ premier. For starters, there’s the huge and hilarious cast of characters, each so unique—from clothes to personality—that there’s no chance of confusion. Add to that a series of capers that place Bria and her BFF, Rosalie, in increasingly risky situations. And Falco’s peppering of the book with Italian—don’t worry, you’ll be able to figure it out—goes far to give it a feeling of authenticity. Finally, we go beyond the tourists and learn more about the unique and beguiling town that is Positano. For fans of Lorenzo Carcaterra.

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Review

Sing Her Down

by Henrietta Thornton

“Kill someone and she becomes part of you…Take her life and where do you put it?” Trying to rid yourself of your victim’s voice is “A rubber band you can never snap.” The women doing time in an Arizona prison in Pochoda’s latest, including our downtrodden hero, Florida, are firmly stuck, mentally and physically. Until COVID hits and some are released to allow for social distancing. Florida was due for release soon anyway, and the early liberty doesn’t seem much like a gift when she’s stuck in Arizona with no way to get home to Los Angeles. Life’s been cruel to Florida (real name: Florence, but prison nicknames stick), and the first setback—the Department of Corrections forgetting to feed her when she’s enduring quarantine in a dead-end motel—sets her on the road, fleeing parole restrictions. On the bus to freedom, she runs into her nemesis Dios, another former inmate, and the Orange is the New Black comparisons start to stack up, with former rich-kid Florida taking Piper’s role and Dios Red’s. But this transporting tale is much more a coming-of-age saga than an OITNB spinoff. With Officer Lobos—Florida’s doppelganger in haplessness and hard luck—on her tail, can Florida outgrow her prison persona and find freedom?

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Review

The Bell in the Fog

by Brian Kenney

What the world needs now is a great, queer detective, and Rosen is well on his way to creating him. The second in the series—the first was fun but also a bit idiosyncratic—this has the makings of a classic detective novel with a strong supporting cast. It’s San Francisco in 1952, and we’re back with struggling detective Andy Mills, whose home and office are above Ruby, a gay bar. Ex-navy and an ex-cop, Mills is still struggling to gain acceptance from the queer community. But along comes a case that may help him turn around his image. First one, then several people, it turns out, are being blackmailed—sex photos taken in a hotel, holes drilled through the wall—and Mills is on the case. But as with any good crime novel, the story isn’t what you first expect, and soon Andy is reunited with his Navy flame who disappeared seven years ago. Set against the queer bars of the city, the continual raids orchestrated by the police, and the foggy bay itself, this book is powerfully atmospheric. It ends leaving Andy free from the past and ready for the future. Exactly what most readers will be waiting for.

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Review

The Busy Body

by Brian Kenney

Sometimes it’s the setting that grabs you. Often it’s the plot. But here it is two fabulous characters who come together and through sharp dialogue create a story that both cozy and traditional-mystery readers will love. Former Senator Dorothy Gibson—pant-suit loving, wise-cracking, and wine-imbibing—has just weeks ago lost a run for the presidency to that man, and she’s retired to her northern White House on the Maine coast to lick her wounds and begin work on her memoirs. Her ghostwriter, new on the job, is summoned to Maine; Dorothy’s not one to sit idle. It’s quite a fun hothouse with Dorothy’s gay son hanging around, a ten-out-of-ten bodyguard lurking in the corridor, a Huma Abedin clone who tries to keep everyone on track—and the ghostwriter describing it all in delicious detail. All’s well until there’s a death at a neighboring estate and Dorothy and the ghostwriter, refusing to believe it’s an accident, quickly launch their own investigation. The denouement is quite wordy, but full of the requisite number of surprises. The idea of a ghostwriter as the narrator, who pairs up with different celebrities to solve crimes, is a darn good one.

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Review

The New Mother

by Henrietta Thornton

Having a new baby is hard for anyone, but for lawyer Natalie the daily grind of keeping up with baby Oliver while her husband goes to work seems like both thankless drudgery and the most important job in the world, one at which she’s failing miserably. All Oliver wants to do is nurse, leaving Natalie little time to sleep, and when she does collapse into bed, she lies awake fretting about her failures. So when Paul, a kindly neighbor and a stay-at-home dad, slowly gains her trust and seems to be the only one who understands—Oliver even likes him!—Natalie is quickly drawn into his care. Erin, his wife, a stern, perfect woman whom he has come to loathe, is not a fan of Natalie. The young woman’s presence, and her growing relationship with Paul, brings back painful, humiliating memories for Erin, including his transgression with the woman who lived in Natalie’s house before, whose family, readers learn, moved in an odd hurry. The hormonal, messy, and puzzling time warp of the first months of life with a new baby are the perfect backdrop for a psychological thriller, and this one will keep parents especially rapt. While you wait for it, try Murphy’s The Favor, another absorbing domestic drama.

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