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Review

Declan

by Danise Hoover

Though the subtitle of this novel is “a mystery,” it is not a standard of the genre as readers might expect. Declan left Ireland 40 years ago because he was wrongly accused of disloyalty to the Irish republican cause. In New York, he runs a successful business and has a large, prosperous family. He receives a note that forces his return, accompanied by two of his sons: Terry, an airline pilot; and Brennan, a priest. Family and friends welcome them wholeheartedly. This story is set in the 1990s, when sectarian issues are still quite hot. Terry is grabbed off the street and held captive, escaping by his own wits, but this is part of a different story from the one that brought Declan home. Leaving their father out of most of the dirty work, the sons do some deep investigation and figure out part of what’s going on, but the rest of the story, while explained, is not totally solved. If you have been longing for a trip to Ireland but haven’t the time or funds to take it, reading this will give you a real travelogue-like view of the country, especially of Dublin.—Danise Hoover

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Review

Children of the Savage City

by Willy Williams

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Those classic lines spoken by Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III are a running theme in Heider’s terrific follow-up to her acclaimed debut, May the Wolf Die. Shaken by the traumatic events of the previous book, Nikki Serafino, a liaison between the Italian police and the U.S. military stationed in Naples, is lying low, teaching a self-defense class, when she’s rescued from a shakedown and mugging by Benedetto De Rosa. He is the right-hand man of Tito Calandra, Nikki’s childhood friend who has become a powerful figure in the city’s underworld. Not wishing to be drawn back into that world, Nikki refuses De Rosa’s request for a favor. But it’s not so easy to disconnect from the corrupt il Sistema (the System) of organized crime that is so much a part of Neapolitan life, as Nikki discovers when she agrees to help undercover cop Valerio Alfieri (who has his own issues with the Comorra) investigate a murder. The victim is a young nanny at the historic Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo, with the crime witnessed by Valerio’s mother and the daughter of the U.S. ambassador. Once again, Heider brings the beautiful and complicated city of Naples to life in all its elegant and squalid splendor while telling an exciting, dark, and violent tale with a high body count. Readers will eagerly await Nikki’s next quest for justice.—Willy Williams

 

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Review

Blunt Instrument

by Danise Hoover

Disgraced and unemployable academic Dela, short for Delarobia, has taken over her uncle’s PI business. Her father, a grumpy academic who’s drifting into dementia, railroads her into solving a murder at a small college–a crime that’s two weeks old with no solution in sight from the local police. Oh, what a cast of characters is presented! Conniving academics, drunken faculty wives, smarmy college presidents, Dela’s aged and blind godfather (is he an asset or a complication?), to say nothing of the police force. Dela takes them all on, with an understanding of the situation that comes from her having experienced campus politics first hand, and from a deep, if jaded, comprehension of the human psyche. She doesn’t always see things clearly, but she is smart and dogged. The ending is not exactly just, and somewhat lumpy, but readers learn the truth. What sets this apart from most is that the author, a novice at mysteries, is an accomplished novelist who brings her talent to creating texture and nuance that is not usually found in even the finest genre fiction. Blunt Instrument is a pleasure to read.—Danise Hoover

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Review

Three Bengal Kittens

by Brian Kenney

An absolute joy from start to finish. In this fourth book in the series, veterinarian Peter Bannerman finds his brother Sam living in a Winnipeg apartment house, with a dead neighbor whom the cops believe has passed on as a result of accidental autoerotic asphyxiation. But once the cops have hauled Sam in for questioning, their focus shifts, and he is eventually arrested for the murder. Sam has more than his share of mental health issues, and having him as a brother is challenging to say the least. For starters, Sam’s more concerned with finding one of the kittens who has gone lost—it belongs to his dead neighbor—than finding the real criminal and maybe springing himself from jail. But, luckily, Sam has Peter, who may be incredibly frustrated by his brother, but is certain that he would never hurt anyone, beast or human. Unfortunately, it becomes Peter’s job to prove to the cops Sam’s innocence, discover the murderer, and locate the missing kitten. Fortunately, he has assistance from Pippin, his dog and a Western Canadian champion sniffer; and his wife Laura, who provides Peter with some useful critical thinking. In the end, we are taken down a path rife with ghosts and murderers and that resolves the past by investigating the present.

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Review

Monster in the Moonlight

by Danise Hoover

A cryptozoologist’s views are not exactly recognized by the whole of the scientific community. But a dead woman in small-town Wisconsin brings law enforcement to cryptozoologist Morgan Carter, as they know her as a source of assistance. Lydia Palmer was found in a rural area with a broken neck and her throat ripped open by what could be the “Beast of Bray Road,” a local legend that has been capturing imaginations for years. Morgan is pretty sure from the outset that there is some human source to this mystery. Lydia, a widow with an adult son disabled from the car accident that killed her husband, was always looking for a way to make money. She wasn’t particularly wise about her methods, but there is still no good reason for her to have been in dark woods in the middle of the night. Sightings of the beast seem realistic, but Morgan has a good idea of what caused the deep scratches in Lydia’s car and body, and it’s not what people think. Another dead body and faked historic documents, among other things, lead Morgan to a conclusion that is worse than any beast. Though part of a series, this is nicely framed so that the back story stays in the background and readers new to Morgan and trusty hound Newt can keep up.

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Review

What Happened Next

by Brian Kenney

Taut and intense, this novel is sure to set every reader who picks it up on edge. Charlie Kilgore was an infant 25 years ago when, at Idlewild, their family camp, his father murdered a man, went on to stab Charlie’s mother, left her for dead, then drifted off into the White Mountains of New Hampshire, never to be seen again. It’s a legacy of horror that Charlie hears from time to time as he grows up, including how his older brother saved them both by hiding them in an ancient rowboat on the lake. But soon enough, WASPY, old Idlewood returns to its annual summer silence and secrets. Until Charlie, an aspiring journalist, blows everything up. While writing and editing a podcast about the camp, Charlie weaves together various narratives that point to an even greater story than the murder, exposing the truth, awakening the past, and placing himself in danger. What Happened Next is certainly one of Hill’s best works with its sharp analysis of families and powerful presentation of the individual in an environment where no one can be trusted.

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Review

Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife

by Willy Williams

In a clever standalone homage to Agatha Christie and other Golden Age authors, Edwards (Rachel Savernake series) invites “external observers” (i.e., readers) and “analysts” (reviewers) to participate in an interactive puzzle mystery-within-a-mystery set in a remote, snowbound Yorkshire village. The mysterious Midwinter Trust has brought six down-on-their-luck people with connections to crime fiction (including washed-out author Harry Crystal and laid-off book publicist Poppy de Lisle) to Midwinter village in the rugged Pennines to solve a fictional murder over the Christmas holidays under the close supervision of six Midwinter Trust employees. But the game soon goes awry when one of the guests, podcaster Baz Frederick, is found dead in a frozen creek; it is determined that he fell accidentally. But two more deaths are more than coincidental. Is a killer on the loose? As the players struggle to solve both the actual murders and the fictional one, readers can apply their own detective skills in deciphering the clues the author sprinkles throughout the podcast excerpts, text messages, journal entries, webpage excerpts, and third-person narrative. He even provides a Cluefinder (a nod to Golden Age detective fiction) but warns sternly that readers who cheat will be disqualified. If you love to play Clue and are a fan of atmospheric cozies, this is a fun, diverting read.

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Review

In the Bones

by Jeff Ayers

Beautiful, upstate New York, small town Cape Vincent is a place where everybody knows one another. When famous retired hockey player Mikko Helle buys a waterfront house and completely renovates it, he hires Nicole Durham, a local woman, to clean before he moves in. She finds a young woman secretly living inside the house, then the police investigate and discover the remains of another young woman in the basement. With a string of bizarre thefts of items that seem to have no value, the squatter in Helle’s house appears to be the perfect suspect for both the break-ins and the murder. Suspicions mount and trust disappears when Nicole learns about her husband’s surprising connection to the unexpected house guest, the dead body, and Helle’s secret business dealings. How do you discover the truth when everything is built on lies? Wegert creates a vivid town and realistic inhabitants with this taut and compelling mystery. Comparisons to Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects and books by Jane Harper and Lucy Foley are warranted

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Review

Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests

by Dodie Ownes

When Vivienne, an admittedly dowdy and somewhat bitter middle-aged magazine editor, receives a mysterious invitation to a dinner party, she almost throws it away. Reconsidering, she goes to the elusive address to find Serendipity, which appears to be a pop-up fine dining experience. None of the other six guests has any relation to her, or one another, it seems. Readers get to know them through their actions and words, and it would be easy to start guessing what is to come, but the highlight of the dinner is when each finds an envelope at his or her place setting. Janet, the most spontaneous (and likely most drunk) of the guests, tears hers open to find a card that states You will die age 44, and she is just weeks from her 45th birthday. Fear, accusations, and incredulity sweep across the group, and then, dismissing it as a publicity stunt, they depart. But then the words on the cards start coming true. As the guests tell their stories and admit to their sins, readers see Vivienne emerge as a caring and clever amateur sleuth who finally has a family to protect. A terrific addition to the current trend of If you knew you were going to die, how would you live your life? novels.

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Review

Just Another Dead Author

by Dodie Ownes

Swedish author Bivald gives readers another delightful twisty tale (following The Murders in Great Diddling) with well-known mystery author Berit Gardner in the lead role, along with a diverse and quirky cast of characters, most of whom are writers, agents, and publishers attending a retreat outside Lyon, France. Against the backdrop of the somewhat dilapidated yet beautiful Chateau des Livres, the envy and adoration amongst the attendees begins to merge, even as they continue to workshop “Dramatic Plot Twists” and “Portrait of a Writer on Fire.” When John Wright, headliner and bestselling author, dies in the front row during Berit’s welcoming address, nearly everyone is a suspect. A series of reveals follows, including two Mrs. Wrights, a partial manuscript, and a kitchen crush. When another particularly annoying attendee is found stabbed, the stakes are raised. With the help of sharp-eyed observers and a DCI Ahmed, a friend from England, Berit and her rep Sarah, who happens to be the daughter of John Wright’s agent, start to work out whom the murderer might be, much to the chagrin of local authority Commissaire Roche. Fans of Kemper Donovan’s Ghostwriter series will eat this up. A fun romp through the publishing industry is icing on the cake!

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