Perry, who died earlier this year, caps a well-upholstered tale of aristocratic murder with news of a surprising killer.
Elena Standish is sent to a most unlikely place to ferret out the killer of a fellow spy.
John Repton, who’d been active in MI6 during the Great War, had more or less retired by 1934. But the very last job he agreed to take on—secretly keeping an eye on Wyndham Hall in the Cotswolds—ended with the discovery of his body in a ditch nearby. Urgently needing to know what Repton had discovered and who’d shot him to death, Peter Howard sends Elena and James Allenby, two of his best, to Wyndham Hall to pretend they’re a couple while they ask discreet questions and gather evidence. It seems more and more likely that the motive for Repton’s murder was political. Sir David Wyndham has donated sizable sums to Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts. His wife, Lady Griselda, is clearly more than just an acquaintance of Edward, Prince of Wales, and his mistress, Wallis Simpson. And now that Robert Hastings, the local MP who’s been spoken of as the next prime minister, has been accused by his aide, Timothy Rogers, of improper sexual advances that could put paid to his career, Lady Griselda has made it clear that she considers the pliant Chief Constable Algernon Miller the ideal replacement. What makes the assignment especially dicey for Elena is that Geoffrey Baden, David’s brother-in-law and the beau of Elena’s sister, Margot Driscoll, is another admirer of Mosley’s, and Elena correctly believes that Margot considers every indication her sister gives that she should proceed with extreme caution as a sign of Elena’s jealousy.
Perry, who died earlier this year, caps a well-upholstered tale of aristocratic murder with news of a surprising killer.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780593359150
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.
Stephanie Plum’s 31st adventure shows that Trenton’s preeminent fugitive-apprehension agent still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve, and needs every one of them.
The current caseload for Stephanie and Lula—the ex-prostitute file clerk at her cousin Vincent Plum’s bail bonds company, who serves as her unflappable sidekick—begins with two “failures to appear.” Eugene Fleck is suspected of being Robin Hoodie, who robs from the rich and, yes, distributes the proceeds to the poor. Racketeer Bruno Jug, who’s missed his court date on charges of tax evasion, is also suspected of drugging and raping a 14-year-old. But neither of these fugitives can hold a candle to Zoran Djordjevic, aka Fang, a self-proclaimed vampire wanted in connection with the gruesome fate of his late wife and three other missing women. As usual, Stephanie’s personal life is just as helter-skelter as her professional life as a bounty hunter. She’s managed to get herself engaged both to Det. Joe Morelli, of the Trenton PD, and Ranger, a former Special Forces agent who runs a private security firm; she thinks she may be pregnant; and she’s willing to marry the father, whichever of her fiances that turns out to be. On top of it all, her nothingburger schoolmate Herbert Slovinski suddenly pops up at one of the funerals she ferries her Grandma Mazur to, hitting on her relentlessly and gilding his importunities by cleaning and painting her shabby apartment and laying new carpet. Luckily, Lula’s on hand to offer cupcakes that stave off the worst disasters, and whenever this hodgepodge threatens to slow down, another FTA appears, or fails to appear.
As usual, Evanovich handles the funny stuff better (much better) than the mystery stuff.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781668003138
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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