A diligent and appealing detective enhances this tense mystery.
A private eye’s investigation into the assault of a 70-year-old woman leads to murder and a political conspiracy in this thriller sequel.
Boston entrepreneur Ben Johnson is shaken by the news that Acadia LaFleur is comatose following an attack. He’s had business dealings with the LaFleurs, an affluent Louisiana family that Acadia married into. As Ben has loved her since the two had an affair decades ago, he asks his private investigator friend Dimase Augustin to find out what happened. Dimase makes little headway until he learns of a striking similarity between Acadia and an escort who recently turned up as a homicide victim in a nearby Louisiana town. They both have the same name. Not only are the crimes likely connected, but there’s another potential link to a political power move that involves an imminent assassination. Since the culprits are desperate to cover their tracks, they target others for murder as well, including Acadia, who may eventually be able to identify her assailant. A vague clue points Dimase and Ben to an unknown senator’s nickname. They’ll need to identify this senator to unravel a growing conspiracy while ensuring Acadia—and the two friends themselves—stays safe. Bruneau’s novel is concise and absorbing. The mystery is relatively simple, and most readers will have worked it out well before the ending. But suspense is ample in the latter half, particularly as escalating distrust among the villains makes them more unpredictable and dangerous. The story offers minimal insights into Dimase aside from his brief personal history beginning in Haiti. He’s generally by the book, even respectfully coordinating with authorities in the two places in which he operates. Still, his professional nature underscores his intelligence and tenacity while Ben and Acadia’s convincing love story provides the bulk of the tale’s strong emotional context.
A diligent and appealing detective enhances this tense mystery. (dedication)Pub Date: May 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-66320-200-0
Page Count: 244
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.
Evildoers plan attacks from America to India, and Jack Ryan Jr. is a prime target.
In Washington state, a man and his family are murdered, and President Jack Ryan learns it is another Poseidon Spear incident. Three retired members of that counterterrorism group have been killed now, and the U.S. government suspects a mole in its midst. Meanwhile, the Umayyad Revolutionary Council believes it has a holy and wholly anti-American mission. Against this backdrop, Jack Ryan Jr., and his fiancée, Lisanne Robertson, visit Delhi, India, to attend the wedding of Srini Rai, the brilliant surgeon who attached Lisanne’s prosthetic left arm. Lisanne had lost her arm in Tom Clancy Shadow of the Dragon (2020). Jack and Lisanne are both operators working for the Campus, a covert group that executes secret presidential directives. A wedding is a happy occasion, and the engaged American couple intend the trip as a vacation. Jack and Lisanne will attend a sangeet, an elaborate pre-wedding party. But it isn’t long before they survive a suicide bomb attack. As with all Clancy novels, there’s plenty of action on a global scale. In simultaneous strikes, terrorists plan to contaminate America’s Western water supply with radioactive waste from Washington’s Hanford nuclear power plant, blow up a spectacular new bridge in Kashmir, and kill the evil Ryan—or Junior, at least. It will be At-Takwir, the end of days. There is an appealing mix of Indian culture, high-speed action, and the rich lode of details that characterizes the whole series. And in the background lingers the question on several characters’ minds: Have Jack and Lisanne set their own wedding date?
A fun read. Terrorists make great Clancy fodder.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780593718032
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
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