Just what all proper brides should have: something old and something new.
A program director for a TV station just can’t leave her days as an investigative journalist behind.
Lee Barrett likes being on the production end of things at WICH-TV in Salem, Massachusetts. It gives her access to a wide variety of program material, from Ranger Rob’s Rodeo to Tarot Time With River North to Cooking With Wanda the Weather Girl. It gives her an in with local celebrities like Fabulous Fabio, an aspiring magician whose day job involves baking the tastiest cakes in town. It allows her to score one of Fabio’s fabulous creations for her upcoming wedding to police detective Pete Mondello in return for giving Fabio a chance to showcase his sleight of hand on Ranger Rob’s. And it gives her time to order flowers, have her dress altered, pick out invitations, and buy a new home, tasks her old schedule as a reporter would never have allowed. Lee’s ready to leave the home she’s shared with her Aunt Isobel since her parents’ tragic deaths in a plane crash on Pirate’s Island when she was almost 5. Unfortunately, the tenant first in line to take her place in Aunt Ibby’s newly renovated bed-and-breakfast is Fenton Bishop, a mystery writer who learned his craft in the slammer after pleading guilty to the murder of his wife. With Pete’s help, Lee looks into Bishop’s past. At the same time, station manager Bruce Doan wants her to do a piece on Pirate’s Island while she and Pete are stopping there during their honeymoon to visit her aunt and uncle. Perry teases readers long and hard with the mystery of which puzzle Lee will try to unravel before she lets her heroine get down to the actual unraveling.
Just what all proper brides should have: something old and something new.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4967-3143-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
