Great storytelling. Patterson’s fans will love it.
PI rivals combine their wits to solve a spectacular murder case.
Just after leading his team to a win in the NFL playoffs, Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback Archie Hughes is found shot to death in his powder-blue Maserati, putting the City of Brotherly Love in freak-out mode. Archie was their GOAT, or Greatest of All Time; fans, bettors, and bookies had been counting on him to deliver a Super Bowl win. The police are all over the murder investigation, but the district attorney asks private investigator Cooper Lamb to help. Lamb doesn't want to work with the DA, so he recommends his rival, Veena Lion, whom he considers to be the second-best PI available. So Lion works for the city while Lamb works for the superstar’s widow, the much-beloved entertainer Francine Hughes. The two PIs find that they have one goal in common, which is to learn the truth. As they dig into the case, they learn disturbing facts about Archie Hughes that suggest Francine may have had a motive for his murder. Through all of this, the happily divorced Lamb cracks wise with his young son and daughter and brings his year-old associate, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lupe, with him to important meetings. The kids call the pup Loopy. The PIs’ names are a perfect setup for silly jokes, with occasional utterings of “Rowrr” and “Baaaaa” by children and investigators alike. The two adults like each other, by the way. Though generally rivals, they aren’t competing on this case, and their main tension is sexual. He cheerfully suggests sleepovers, and she cheerfully deflects said propositions. Will they, or won’t they? This fast-moving yarn replaces noir with humor—if only the world could do the same. The authors are apparently noodling with the idea of making this enjoyable read the first of a series. Go for it, guys.
Great storytelling. Patterson’s fans will love it.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780316404891
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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
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