Tag:

Mystery & Detective

Review

The List of Suspicious Things

by Dodie Ownes

Miv lives in a small Yorkshire town that sadly has been plagued with heinous murders of women, by a killer dubbed the Ripper, for many months. She and her bestie, Sharon, profile the likely suspects in town and end up finding out more than they would ever want to know—and it’s a lot for a pair of 12-year-old girls: regional pride, racism, mental illness, marital issues, pedophilia, fascism. The issues are astonishing in breadth and all so present, while the proper citizens mind their own business. Miv and Sharon’s close observations collide with a racist neighbor who appears to be targeting their friends Ishtiaq and Omar Bashir, leading readers to believe that they are closing in on identifying the Ripper as well. Godfrey builds an authentic small-town community, with Aunty Jean helping hide “the problem” (depression) with her sister Marian, Miv’s mother, who is essentially non-existent for most of the book. Miv sees the perfect family, the Wares, fall apart, while helping the town librarian, Mrs. Andrews, escape from her abusive husband. The mystery builds with chapters ending with annotations for The List, Miv’s profile for each suspect. As each heartbreaking truth is revealed, Sharon and Miv’s relationship begins to crumble, with readers wondering, along with Sharon, if finding the Ripper has become an obsession. There’s a lot packed in here. But the dizzying feeling Godfrey creates with all the reveals from the adults, who are shockingly less than perfect, makes this a great read for adults and young adults ready to have their neighborhood suspicions confirmed.

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Review

Vows and Villainy

by Danise Hoover

There is not a moment wasted in this cozy mystery that combines stately homes, joyful weddings, and acting troupes. The dead body appears in the first sentence. Molly Kimball, our transplanted Vermont librarian turned bookseller, is as usual in the middle of it all. Sir Nigel, famed Shakespearean actor, is found floating in the moat, posed like Ophelia. The police are of course efficient and on top of all the details, but don’t seem to mind being handed the occasional tidbit that Molly is able to ferret out. As it turns out, Sir Nigel was being sued for the death of a student whom he supposedly tormented. There is much going on to prepare for the two scheduled weddings and the theatrical performances to be held throughout the summer. Family issues and casting rivalries all must be sorted without missing important pre-wedding pampering. As to be expected, all is solved in plenty of time so as not to disrupt the festivities. Friendly characters and lovely weather make for a relaxing read.

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Review

Silent Bones

by Willy Williams

Book of the Week September 11, 2025

When a mudslide blocks a highway near Edinburgh, the debris also exposes a skeleton with a damaged skull, indicating signs of murder. Detective Inspector Karen Pitrie and her Police Scotland Historic Crimes Unit are called in to investigate. It’s spring 2025, five years after the traumatic COVID-related events of Past Lying. Research indicates that the skeleton, soon identified as that of freelance journalist Sam Nimmo, was buried back in 2014 when the road was constructed. At that time, Nimmo was the prime suspect in the killing of his pregnant girlfriend. Was his death an act of vengeance? Or was his investigation into a possible sex scandal connected to the 2014 referendum for Scottish independence the motivating factor? Pirie and her team also probe the so-called accidental death of a hotel manager with ties to a mysterious book club called Justified Sinners, whose members are wealthy, entitled men. Flavoring her writing with colorful Scottish slang, McDermid combines compelling, intricate plotting with strong character development. It’s nice to see DC Jason Murray developing his sleuthing skills and confidence under Karen’s patient mentoring, while talented but impulsive DS Daisy Mortimer occasionally still irritates her boss. The unsettled ending may disappoint some readers (real life is not always so neatly tied up), but McDermid’s passion for justice shines through.

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Review

The Italian Secret

by Danise Hoover

In a spectacular example of a post-war noir novel we have Billie Walker, a hardboiled PI following in her father’s tradition, with her specialty helping women out of terrible marriages by finding evidence of infidelity. The Sydney, Australia PI has a loyal and supportive staff, an attractive police officer to back her up, and a mystery in her background. In her father’s files, she finds an old picture, taken in an Italian town near Naples, of him, another woman, and a young girl. There follows the suspicious death of a client, a sea voyage with her mother to Naples, vendettas, the search for her father’s other family, and a deadly chase through the tunnels under the city. This is non-stop action, with an authenticity of mood, clothing, travel detail, and attitude that makes it special.

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Review

Guilt

by Brian Kenney

A brilliant novel that at first seems to be a simple murder case but grows into an expansive investigation of the nature of crime and its outcomes. Higashino is best known for his Detective Kaga and Detective Galileo series, and this is the first in his Detective Godai series to be translated into English. Godai, a member of the Tokyo Police Department, is investigating the death of a lawyer, Kensuke Shiraishi, whose body was found on a Tokyo riverbank. From there the story leads to Tatsuro Kuraki, said to have had some relationship with Shiraishi, who confesses to both the lawyer’s murder and another killing from 30 years ago. You would think this would wrap up the narrative, which is complex, albeit completely readable. But no, the story moves on, with new players, more motives, and a shocking conclusion. What a delight it is for English-speaking readers to have a new novel from Higashino.

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Review

The Tumbling Girl

by Henrietta Thornton

In the acknowledgments to this immersive debut, Walsh explains that she took a novel-writing course partly to convince herself not to write this series opener; readers will be happy that she went ahead anyway. Walsh drops us deep into the world of Minnie Ward, who writes music for Victorian London’s Variety Palace Music Hall. The shabby venue hosts a plate spinner whose dressing room sounds like breaking crockery and sobs, a soprano who only sometimes hits a note, a wayward monkey that likes to have its way with the ventriloquist’s dummy, and other downmarket wonders. When kindly detective Albert Easterbrook is hired to find the killer of a young woman who worked at the Palace, it brings him into Minnie’s world. She’s not content to sit on the sidelines of the investigation—she knows far more than Albert does about the workings of her realm, not to mention that those he needs to question aren’t going to open themselves up to a “toff.” While working through his exasperation with headstrong Minnie, Albert begins to fall for her, a situation she rebuffs as it will never work out—class divides loom large here. Their sometimes-parallel, sometimes-together work exposes both to dangers and horrors that will keep readers rapt; a side plot involving a serial killer who is terrorizing London closes the book and creates an opening for a sequel, which readers will eagerly await.

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Review

Innocence Road

by Danise Hoover

The body of a young woman is found in the desert outside a nothing Texas town, stirring memories of the murder of the daughter of a prominent citizen 15 years ago. Leanne Everhart, a local cop and daughter of one of the officers who solved the original case, is in a terrible place. The man who confessed to the original crime has had his conviction overturned, and she sees connections that no one else sees in the two crimes. As she digs further, she finds that there are more dead women, nearly one a year, whose existence has been ignored by politics and local inertia. She sees patterns, but there are no funds to pursue the case. Long-held local loyalties and family ties stand in her way, but it’s the politics and scandals that are the true impediments. Tough, indomitable Leanne calls in every favor she can while risking her career and her life in the process. This is an edge-of-the-seat read that’s not for the faint of heart.

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Review

The Quiet Mother

by Brian Kenney

Lies, guilt, and betrayal are the engines that drive Indridason’s powerful third and most recent of the Konrad novels to be published in English. Retired police detective Konrad hears of the brutal murder of Valborg, an older woman who lives a simple life in her Reykjavik apartment. She leaves behind little, except for a note with Konrad’s phone number. It turns out that Konrad was contacted by Valborg several times—they even met for coffee—as Valborg tried to convince the detective to take on her case: she wanted him to find a child that she had given up almost 50 years before. Konrad repeatedly turned down her request, fearing that there wasn’t enough information to complete her search. But once Valborg is murdered, guilt consumes Konrad, and he decides to delve into the past to understand the present. Dark and haunting, Konrad’s search unearths the sad and sordid history of his own family, a history he has striven to repress. A fast-moving Nordic noir that will appeal to fans of police narratives, family histories, and Iceland’s past.

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Review

I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home

by Brian Kenney

Free after several decades in prison and now a resident of a high-end retirement home, Carol fears that her presence there will evoke a range of emotions in her peers, including fear, curiosity, and hostility. And she’s right. Carol’s history as a serial killer does come to light, exposing her past to the other seniors. But when a fellow resident dies—he turns out to have been a former police commissioner—Carol realizes that many of the occupants also have a past in law enforcement, some more sordid than others. Suddenly, the burden to prove her innocence falls on her shoulders, along with some help from a few of her new-found law-enforcement friends. In this winning mixture of humor and seriousness, baking and bingo, Carol does her very best to end up on the right side of justice, even if she has to commit murder to stay there. A great choice for book-group discussions.

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Review

Lost in the Garden of Eve

by Henrietta Thornton

Keke McCoy is an Indian Springs, GA, reporter who’s investigating the deaths of teenage dancers at a local strip club as she recovers from injuries received in her previous investigation. Not one to take things easy, she’s soon back in the thick of the town’s underworld as she’s a former stripper herself and can perfectly blend in as undercover in the club where she used to work. Confusing the job is that the detective also working the case is her former—well, sometimes current—boyfriend, Drew, who’s now engaged to someone else, a woman who’s none too happy with Keke. Also not enamored of her won’t-back-down ethic are the town’s good ol’ boys who take the bodies of Keke and the other “colored gals” as their birthright. Paired with awful abuse—including that of a young woman whose mother is her pimp—and tawdry behavior by entitled locals are Bible passages about Eve that highlight her plight and pious behavior by a bigwig family who are ripe for a fall. Divine shines a bright light on social issues in still-segregated small towns and brings memorable characters to a tense, satisfying showdown. More from Keke and Drew, please!

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