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Review

The World’s Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant.

by Brian Kenney

A traditional mystery full of quirky characters and humorous situations, this feel-good narrative is told by Gen Z’s Olivia Blunt, who remains ticked off with her famous boss (low wages, no opportunities for growth, hostile environment), Boomer Aubrey Merritt. Olivia dreams of being more than an assistant, but in the meantime she’s soaking up everything she can about the job from Aubrey (she has to retire or die someday, right?) while evaluating possible cases. Which is how she and Aubrey end up on Vermont’s beautiful Lake Champlain, where they’ve been hired to investigate the murder—or is it suicide?—of Victoria Summersworth, the matriarch of a family that owns a sprawling resort on the lake. Readers will enjoy the cast of largely middle-aged family members, employees, and general hangers-on as Olivia and Aubrey grill each and every one of them. The ending may be totally surprising as Aubrey delivers quite the denouement in the tradition of Agatha Christie.

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Review

Murder at Gulls Nest

by Brian Kenney

It’s 1954, and most people in Great Britain seem happy to put the second world war behind them. Nora Breen, previously a nun and a nurse, asks to be released from her vow of 30 years to pursue Frieda, a young novice she is fond of who has left the monastery. Frieda promised Nora she would write—and she did, until suddenly she stopped. The only choice Nora has is to head south, settling at Gulls Nest, a small, shabby guest house in the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea, Kent, where Frieda had been living. One would think that Gulls Nest was all fresh air and new starts, but while the air is fresh, nearly every resident of Gulls Nest has their own secrets, some nastier than others, which Nora tries to pry from her fellow residents. But within days of arriving, Nora stumbles across a series of murders, offering the police her medical knowledge in helping to discover the murderer, an offer that initially is met with disdain (although by the end of the book, the police chief is seeking her advice). It’s a pleasure to watch Nora adapt to the secular world, use her immense empathy, and explore her rich inner life. It would seem that this is the first book in the series “Nora Breen Investigates,” something that will delight traditional and cozy readers alike.

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Review

King of Ashes

by Henrietta Thornton

A gripping family story packed with tension, violence, and secrets that’s sure to enthrall Cosby’s legions of fans. It introduces the Carruthers clan of Jefferson Run, GA. The town, known to local kids and jaded adults as Jefferson Got the Runs, used to be prosperous, but “now all we make are orphans and widows.” In a gray area in that regard is Keith Carruthers, who might or might not be widowed. His wife hasn’t been seen for years; he’s the owner of a crematory; and locals think he killed and disposed of her himself. Now that he’s been the victim of a hit-and-run and is comatose, his grown children, Roman, Dante, and Neveah, may never know what happened to their mother. But that’s the least of their worries after rich, successful Roman returns from Atlanta to see his father and tries to help Dante, who’s in trouble with ruthless local gangsters. Roman is used to more than a little white-collar sleight of hand in his financial advising business, but is quickly far out of his depth in the evil underbelly of his hometown. “We all fall short of grace, but the beauty lives in the attempt,” says Cosby (All the Sinners Bleed, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2024), neatly summing up Dante’s increasingly bloody helping hand and the family’s striving to love one another even when the world gives them every reason to give up.

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Review

Murder at Gulls Nest

by Brian Kenney

It’s 1954, and most people in Great Britain seem happy to put the second world war behind them. Nora Breen, previously a nun and a nurse, asks to be released from her vow of 30 years to pursue Frieda, a young novice she is fond of who has left the monastery. Frieda promised Nora she would write—and she did, until suddenly she stopped. The only choice Nora has is to head south, settling at Gulls Nest, a small, shabby guest house in the seaside town of Gore-on-Sea, Kent, where Frieda had been living. One would think that Gulls Nest was all fresh air and new starts, but while the air is fresh, nearly every resident of Gulls Nest has their own secrets, some nastier than others, which Nora tries to pry from her fellow residents. But within days of arriving, Nora stumbles across a series of murders, offering the police her medical knowledge in helping to discover the murderer, an offer that initially is met with disdain (although by the end of the book, the police chief is seeking her advice). It’s a pleasure to watch Nora adapt to the secular world, use her immense empathy, and explore her rich inner life. It would seem that this is the first book in the series “Nora Breen Investigates,” something that will delight traditional and cozy readers alike.

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Review

Love You to Death

by Brian Kenney

Zorie and Kayla, best friends since third grade, work as house cleaners in a so-so hotel, a position that allows them to engage in a bit of light stealing but not enough to keep them afloat. Which is how the two get involved in crashing weddings where they can pick up some major hauls (steal the money and pawn the goods) while not knowing a soul. Until one weekend they head off to work a rural wedding that they promise each other will be their last gig (“best friend’s honor” is their motto), only to discover that they are the only two Black women at an antebellum-themed wedding. Heading out of town as fast as they can, they are involved in an accident that sends them into temporary hiding as the news blares forth the story of the “Wedding Crash Killers.” Without any support from family, and no friends that can help, things start to escalate and the two head to New Orleans, leaving a trail of blood and bodies in their wake. Zorie and Kayla are forced to make tough decisions about their future and their friendship in this brilliant depiction of two young women who can barely keep alive financially. Completely compelling, full of dark humor, and providing a deep investigation into the nature of friendship, this book is high on my list for book discussions.

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Review

And the Lake Will Take Them

by Danise Hoover

This is not an easy time for Sheriff Red Hammergren. She’s a widow in the job her husband once held, with the purse strings held by a toxically masculine board. It’s January in Minnesota, snowing with more predicted, serious drug problems in the town, and the comic relief of an insulting new webpage done by a leading citizen’s nephew. An elderly man with dementia has wandered off without his coat, there is a missing teenage girl, and the snowplows can’t keep up with what’s coming down. Red locates the man, but Missy, the teen, has reasons for running that are unclear. The danger Missy is in comes not only from the weather but from some really bad individuals. Red has to connect all the pieces—information from cold cases of the past, secrets in the present—while trying to keep everyone safe from the weather and from the danger she senses but can’t define. Red is a wonderful character, fighting to save her town with loyal deputies and a group of retired nurses. She succeeds in the end by her ability to listen. It seems we will see more of Red, one would hope in a more pleasant season.

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Review

Make Me Famous

by Willy Williams

At age four, Cléo Louvent tells her father that she wants to be as famous as Céline Dion. The only child of Franco-American academics, she is determined to become a celebrated pop singer against all odds. Despite her father’s warning to be careful of what she wishes for, Cléo ruthlessly climbs the ladder to musical success. As the novel opens, she is 32 and a global superstar. (Think Taylor Swift.) Cléo is also exhausted from fighting to stay on “top of the pyramid,” and is taking her first real vacation (costing her a half-million dollars) alone on a remote South Pacific island away from prying eyes, cell phones, the paparazzi, and her team’s incessant requests. In her solitude, she reflects on the journey that brought her here. French author Ventura’s first novel, My Husband, depicts a wife’s unhealthy obsession with her spouse. Her second portrays the making of a fame monster. The narcissistic and sociopathic Cléo is an awful person, an unreliable narrator extraordinaire, but she is also fascinating and darkly funny in her observations of celebrity culture. (“You have to reach a certain level of fame before you are allowed to be rude.”) Her eventual comeuppance is chilling but oh-so-satisfying. An intense and compelling psychological study on the costs of fame and ambition.

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Review

The Understudy

by Willy Williams

It’s loathing at first sight when trained opera singer Kit (stage name Katerina) Margolis meets her understudy, the sexually alluring Yolanda Archambeau, on the first day of rehearsals for Barbarella, a new opera based on the 1968 film. Kit, struggling to prove she is right for the titular role, her first leading part, is taken aback when her director introduces Yolanda to the cast, something not done until later in the rehearsal process. “I felt a flash of irritation, uncharitable yet valid. She didn’t need to be there. She shouldn’t be there.” Kit’s unease rises when Yolanda yawns during Kit’s big aria and later confesses her operatic ambitions, despite her lack of training. Regarding underhanded scheming, Eve Harrington (of the film All About Eve) has nothing on the ruthless Yolanda, whose weapons against Kit include poisoned tea and dead rats. But before her plotting can escalate to a deadlier level, Yolanda is fatally stabbed in her apartment. Kit, who briefly falls under suspicion because of a violent incident in her past, turns sleuth to uncover her late rival’s dark secrets and identify her killer. Offering an entertaining look at the backstage world of New York City opera, Richter’s second novel (after The Divide) skillfully mixes the tropes of a psychological thriller with the conventions of an amateur sleuth mystery. Especially compelling is Kit’s growing self-confidence as a singer and a woman as she pursues the truth.

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Review

Nobody’s Fool

by Jeff Ayers

Coben (Think Twice) brings back former Detective Sami Kierce from Fool Me Once (the book and the NetFlix series) as his past crashes into his simple life. Sami works as a private investigator, doing jobs that embarrass him. He teaches a true-crime class at night school and lives with his wife and year-old son. Sami might want answers from past events in his life, but thinks he will never learn the truth until a woman he recognizes arrives in his class. When Sami graduated from college, he met Anna on a trip to Spain, and for days their lives were bliss until she ended up dead. But the woman Sami sees in his class is Anna, and Sami stumbles into a larger mystery that seems unrelated to his time overseas. To add to the investigator’s increasing stress, the person responsible for killing his partner when he worked in law enforcement is released from prison and asks Sami to reinvestigate the case to prove his innocence. Then Sami’s wife, Molly, thinks she is being stalked, and the lurid texts proving she’s right begin popping up on Sami’s phone. Coben juggles several complex stories, each one of which would be compelling by itself but that together create a page-turning experience that will leave fans and newcomers to Coben enthralled. The twists are shocking, and Sami; his wife, Molly; and the supporting cast are so much fun. Coben would be foolish not to bring them back for another story.

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Review

6:40 to Montreal

by Brian Kenney

Kudos to Jurczyk (The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, That Night in the Library) for providing a closed circle mystery that avoids the tropes of the subgenre while still offering some charming nods to closed trains of the past. Here, bestselling author Agatha (albeit suffering a bit from writer’s block) is sent off by her husband on a roundtrip from Toronto to Montreal for the sole purpose of finishing her new novel. With a first class ticket in hand, and only a few residents in her car, Agatha is slightly optimistic, imagining the train as a writers’ retreat and with the hope of turning out a few pages. But then she discovers a woman lurking about the train—someone, it turns out, whom she knows all too well—who believes that Agatha stole her success. As the snow thickens, the train slides to a halt somewhere in the Canadian wilderness, and then the passengers discover the horrifying news: one of their own has died. It’s brilliant how much Jurczyk packs into the book, moving back and forth between the present and Agatha’s personal history, while always sustaining a steady pace. But by the time the 6:40 makes it to the Montreal area hours later, it’s pure carnage.

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