Even a good friend can stay too long, but that doesn’t mean the visit wasn’t fun.
Best friends support each other when one of them is set up to take the fall for a robbery that evolves into a caper of their own.
Simi Chopra’s the kind of ride-or-die friend who’s always there with bleach and gloves for emergencies like the potential death of her octogenarian landlady Rose’s latest “gentleman caller” in the midst of some extracurricular activities. So when Simi’s bestie, Chloe, calls with her own emergency, Simi’s ready to help. In this case, Chloe’s trapped in a small museum on Chicago’s Gold Coast, and Simi knows it must be a true emergency because Chloe even phones. Chloe seems to have been set up in some sort of million-dollar necklace heist by her mysterious employer, Michael P., who’s used Chloe for her computer expertise to break into the museum’s security while telling her that he works for the museum and is trying to enhance their security. When she gets to the museum, Simi tries to convince Chloe to take an actual fall from the second story in a bid to avoid the police who will surely arrest her. But Simi’s help is neutralized when a man puts a hand over her mouth and drags her into the bushes. Oliver Twist, or maybe Jack Danger, informs Simi that he's just saved her from arrest. Whether or not she believes him, Simi can’t stay upset at a captor and/or rescuer who’s so handsome. So begins a jam-packed heist with the requisite slowly assembled team of misfits, from a life coach who’s more of a gigolo to a drone-loving nerd determined to rebrand himself “The Butcher.”
Even a good friend can stay too long, but that doesn’t mean the visit wasn’t fun.Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9780593548509
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
Breezy, entertaining characters and a cheeky premise fall prey to too much explanation and an unlikely climax.
An aspiring mystery writer sets out to solve her great-aunt’s murder and inherit an estate.
Twenty-five-year-old Annie Adams has never met her great-aunt Frances, who prefers her small village to busy London. But when a mysterious letter arrives instructing Annie to come to Castle Knoll in Dorset to meet Frances and discuss her role as sole beneficiary of her great-aunt’s estate, Annie can’t resist. Unfortunately, she arrives to find Frances’ worst fears have come true: The elderly woman—who’s been haunted for decades by a fortuneteller’s prediction that this will happen—has been murdered, and her will dictates that she will leave her entire estate to Annie, but only if Annie solves her killing. It’s a cheeky if not exactly believable premise, especially since the local police don’t seem terribly opposed to it. Annie herself is an engaging presence, if a little too blind to the fact that she could be on the killer’s to-do list. Her roll call of suspects is pleasingly long, including but not limited to the local vicar, a one-time paramour of her great-aunt’s; a gardener who grows a lot more than flowers; shady developers and suspicious friends from Frances’ past; and Saxon, Annie’s crafty rival, who inherits the estate himself if he manages to solve the case first. Annie pieces together clues through readings of Frances’ journal, but the story eventually runs aground on the twin rocks of too much explanation and a flimsy climax. Cute dialogue gives way to lengthy exposition, and by the time Frances’ killer is revealed you may well be ready to leave Annie, Dorset, and Castle Knoll behind for the firmer ground of reality. Fans of cozy mysteries are likely to be more forgiving, but if you cast a skeptical eye toward amateur sleuths, this novel won’t change your mind about them.
Breezy, entertaining characters and a cheeky premise fall prey to too much explanation and an unlikely climax.Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593474013
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
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