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Mystery & Detective

Review

Death in Fine Condition

by Henrietta Thornton

Set in the same quirky, whatever-can-go-wrong-will world as his Vinyl Detective books, Cartmel’s new series dives deep into the world of vintage-crime-fiction-paperback collectors through the, ahem, creative endeavors of Londoner Cordelia Stanmer to find the best of the best. She’s starting to make her mark in the cutthroat field and knows what she’s looking for as she mines “charity shops, antique shops, jumble sales, book sales, estate sales, house clearances, auctions…” The list goes on, as does the effort to find prime goodies without her rivals in the trade getting there first. Then she finds a shortcut: a local house has a collection—dare she hope it’s complete?—of the Sleuth Hound paperbacks, “the finest horde of these rarities she’d ever encountered.” The hunt is on, with Cordelia tossing aside pesky details such as current ownership while also juggling local gangsters, her slimy brother, a crush on a glamorous but unattainable woman, curious demand for a bad self-published title that’s not even vintage, her weird landlod…again, the list goes on, but Cordelia is ready for it all. Her antics, which will remind readers of Elle Cosimano’s madcap sleuth, Finlay Donovan, create a fun and fast-moving romp; the cherry on top is the wealth of real detail on crime-fiction collectables

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Review

The Golden Gate

by Henrietta Thornton

Depression-era San Francisco’s Claremont hotel is a wonderful playground for sisters Isabella and Iris Bainbridge Stafford, six and eight years old, respectively, who roam through it while their wealthy mother plays tennis. The luxurious hotel has a seven-story-long spiral slide that guests can use as a fire escape, one that Iris might think she’s entering to play when she fatally plunges down a laundry chute. Years later, tragedy visits the hotel again—many say it’s been cursed all along—when Presidential candidate Walter Wilkinson is found murdered in his room (murdered twice, in fact—the book explains all). Police officer Alejo Gutiérrez, passing as Al Sullivan, is the slightly jaded, but still caring, investigator who must sift through the jumble of rumors, racism against Asian hotel workers and city residents, and secretive behavior by rich characters who think the law doesn’t apply to them in his efforts to discover who killed the politician. This saga—the story has as many twisting corridors as the hotel–allows Chua to dig deep into the privileges and invisible barriers at work in any haves-and-have-nots meeting, with memorable results. Pair this with the information on the treatment of San Francisco’s Chinese citizens in David Quammen’s excellent Spillover for a sobering and enlightening view of that community’s history.

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Review

Dead Man’s Wake

by Henrietta Thornton

Both fans and newcomers to the series can sink deep into the pages of Doiron’s latest Mike Bowditch adventure, which sees the Maine game warden’s family vacation upended by what at first appears to be a boating accident. A man’s arm is found floating in the lake, clearly torn off by a boat propeller. Finding the related body opens a new scenario that Mike, local police, and the local forensic examiner puzzle to solve while also navigating the behavior of the rich. They live on the lake where the arm was found and aren’t keen on having their vacations interrupted. Law-enforcement politics are also to be maneuvered around, a tricky task when the lake constable wanted a game warden’s job but was considered too erratic. At the center of the maelstrom is the calm circle of Mike’s family, whose love and stability provide a stark contrast to the nail biting scenes facing the warden. Wilderness thrillers provide a great break from the real world—get this one on your list.

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Review

A Shimmer of Red

by Henrietta Thornton

I eagerly await the books in the Odessa Jones series, and the latest offering is better than ever. Odessa (Dessa) is a realtor/caterer in suburban New Jersey. Life is going well—housing sales are way up—until one of her realtor colleagues, Anna Lee, is killed in a hit and run while out jogging. Could it have been murder? Dessa can’t help but become involved. She goes deep into her colleague’s life, uncovering a surprising past and a present in which Anna was being stalked. But why would anyone threaten this young woman? In a brilliant move on the author’s part, Dessa ends up discovering her connection to Anna, one that extends back decades to Dessa’s first fiancé, when she was barely in her twenties. Part of the delight of this series, which is set in a diverse community, is the recurring characters, from Dessa’s family-like colleagues to restaurateur Lennox Royal—a possible love interest?—to Aunt Phoenix. Dessa’s second sight—she sometimes has the ability to see aura-like glimmers over people, among other paranormal skills—is a gift she has along with her aunts. It’s introduced deftly in the book, and even skeptics will find the protagonist’s gift wholly credible–at least while they’re wrapped up in the plot. This is billed as a cozy—there is a cat and plenty of tea—but Wesley pushes a bit beyond the genre’s traditions. Dive in with this volume, but if you have the time, start with volume one, A Glimmer of Death. You won’t be disappointed.

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Review

All the Sinners Bleed

by Henrietta Thornton

A school shooting in fictional Charon County, VA, reveals horror and catalyzes reckoning in S.A. Cosby’s eagerly awaited follow-up to Razorblade Tears. This is, unsurprisingly, a masterpiece of Southern noir, but that’s selling it short: it’s a fantastic novel, period. The first responders to the shooting are led by Sherriff Titus Crown, a Black man who won a contentious, racist battle for his seat and who now safeguards Klan members and kind neighbors alike. Titus is able for them all, alternating deep kindness with cutting, politically savvy one-liners that put racists in their place. (Appropriate, given his lack of fondness for “stand[ing] there like an extra in Gone with the Wind.”) But even he is thrown when the investigation into the school shooter—a Black man killed at the scene by white cops—uncovers a grisly secret. Join Titus and his meticulously drawn, flawed family, colleagues, and townsfolk for a deep introspection on how evil begets evil and good begets good. And watch for the gripping movie that’s sure to spring from Cosby’s pages.

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Review

Six Ostriches

by Brian Kenney

My favorite veterinarian/amateur detective is at it again. Winter is just winding down in rural Manitoba when Dr. Peter Bannerman is called to care for an ostrich who’s swallowed a bright and shiny object, which turns out to be an ancient Viking medallion—or at least a good facsimile. The object undergoes analysis as Peter investigates a horrifying series of animal mutilations, accompanied by his prize-sniffing dog, Pippin. In this book, Peter learns to keep his investigations quiet. His wife is concerned over his safety, and his Mountie brother-in-law is sick of what he brands as useless interference. But Peter can’t quit, he’s far too caught up in the tragic deaths of his patients. Described as having a mild case of Asperger’s, he brings to bear strong logical skills and the ability to see connections among the mutilations, the artifact, and the white-supremacist communities in Manitoba. A compelling read, a fascinating community, and a knock-out lead character. More, please.

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Review

Seams Deadly

by Brian Kenney

True confession: I can’t sew. Not to even to hem a pair of pants. But that hardly stopped me from enjoying Seams Deadly. After discovering her teaching assistant in bed with her boorish, snobbish husband—cheap, too, if he won’t rent a hotel room—middle-school teacher Lydia Barnes ups and moves from Atlanta to the mountain town of Peridot, Georgia. It’s very Mayberry RFD, with friendships and gossip galore. Lydia connects with her fellow sewists—in fact, she gets a job at the Measure Twice fabric store—and before you can say “zigzag stitch,” she’s set up on a date with her handsome neighbor and the town’s bookseller, Brandon Ivey. It’s one weird date, and Lydia’s comedic voice comes to the fore as she narrates the evening. But weird only gets weirder as later that night, she comes across Brandon dead as can be, with a pair of dress shears lodged deep into his neck. Ouch! Newcomer Lydia is the police’s number one suspect, and when another body is found, the cops are ready to lock her up. Lydia turns to the sewists to help get her out of this mess. If only it were that simple. Special mention goes to Baby Lobster, Lydia’s cat, for valor extraordinaire.

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Review

The Curse of Penryth Hall

by Henrietta Thornton

Devil-may-care heiress Ruby Vaughn has just sent the latest of her boss’s housekeepers running, with the woman on the way out muttering something about “a den of sin and vice.” Ruby does like to knock back a few drinks and scarcely cares about propriety, having planned, while a nurse during the Great War, to set up home with her fellow nurse and lover, Tamsyn. When that antiquarian-bookseller boss announces, “I’ve been thinking,” Ruby knows it doesn’t usually bode well, but this time there’s an upside. The trip he wants her to undertake, delivering mysterious books to a Ruan Kivell in Cornwall, brings her back in contact with Tamsyn, now Lady Chenoweth. Penryth Hall, Tamsyn’s miserable home with her abusive husband, only makes Ruby long all the more for the life she could have had with Tamsyn. When awful Lord Chenoweth is found dead, his body slashed as though by animals, the area’s depths of superstition and past misdeeds begin to reveal themselves, as do the powers of Ruan, the local Pellar, a powerful folk healer. Ruby refuses to believe in the curse that the locals say Chenoweth perished from, pursuing instead the help of the fledgling science of forensics to figure out what happened and restore Tamsyn’s happiness. This debut won the Mystery Writers of America/Minotaur First Crime Novel Competition, a well-deserved honor for a book whose gutsy main character and immersive world-building will remind readers of Margaret Dove in Evie Hawtrey’s And By Fire.

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Review

Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust

by Brian Kenney

First things first: Quigley’s sophomore effort is every bit as witty, character-driven, and well-plotted as last year’s Six Feet Deep Dish. As always, Geneva Bay, Wisconsin chef and pizzeria owner Delilah O’Leary has a few too many things going on. She’s hoping to win the “Taste of Wisconsin” culinary contest, but can’t quite get the recipe exactly right. Her BFF and sous chef, Sonya, is having an affair with none other than the wife of a celebrity chef. And as luck would have it, he’s the judge for the competition. Bad timing! Meanwhile, her pit bull of a great-aunt is suddenly throwing a lot of shade her way. With no explanations. Even Butterball, the cat she shares with her ex-fiancé, wants out. But when visiting the new juice bar—owned by her ex’s annoying girlfriend—she witnesses one of the customers keel over, likely dead from a poisoned smoothie. And before you can say Pretzel Crust Deep-Dish Bratwurst Pizza, Delilah is drawn into some very risky goings-on. The satire is a joy, Delilah’s narration is sheer pleasure, and her restaurant crew provides plenty of balance. This is turning out to be one of the best new cozy series going.

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Review

Urgent Matters

by Henrietta Thornton

“The only way to survive a whirlpool is to let yourself be dragged along by it,” realizes Evelyn, the confused daughter of an accused murderer. The murderer, Hugo Lamadrid, has been missing since a Buenos Aires train crash killed and maimed scores of passengers. Readers know that Hugo escaped the wreckage, where bodies are “piled up, jumbled together, crushed against the walls of the carriage, spilling out the window, dislocated, broken, busted.” But the police don’t know and have just been to his house about the murder. What the authorities do know is that Evelyn and her mother, Marta, suddenly and mysteriously got the urge to leave town after the police’s visit, and now the national media is fixed on the shrine they’ve set up at the home of Marta’s sister that begs the wounds “ofourlordjesuschrist” to help find poor, hapless Hugo alive on the train. A whirlpool indeed, in a book whose baroque abundance of language, strange observations, and even stranger ending are memorable and striking. For those who loved Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic.

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