A measured but diverting medical spy thriller.
In Magnani’s third series entry, pathologist and government assassin Lily Robinson finds herself hot on the trail of a poisoner.
Lily, who works as a consultant at a Boston medical school, uses her toxicological skills assassinations in her secret job as an assassin for “The Agency.” Now her case officer has paired her with a forensic pathologist to investigate a U.S. senator’s death, which initially seems to be the result of natural causes. Signs of a lethal poison reveal a murder—one that shares similarities with that of a politician in the fictional Eastern European country of Jokovikstan. It turns out that Lily’s Agency partner and soulmate, Jean Paul Moreau Marchand, is investigating the latter crime, but the pair are still cooling off from a previous argument, which may be why she later finds the allure of another colleague so tempting. She eventually traces the poison (and poisoner) to the Middle East, but it’s clear that someone is trying to cover their tracks. Lily soon switches to assassin mode when the suspect she’s after threatens someone she loves. The dialogue in Magnani’s deliberately paced novel features plenty of medical jargon and toxin specifics, which showcases the pathologist/toxicologistauthor’s expertise in these areas, although some readers may wish that there was a bit more explanation at times. The characters, however, are well developed, drawing on series-established backstories. Lily, for example, deals with a shocking, recent discovery that her daughter, whom she believed died 20 years ago, is alive and attending the school where she works. The fine supporting cast includes another person who was thought to be deceased, and Lily’s friend John Chi Leigh, a Hong Kong chemist and fellow assassin. The narrative perspective shifts as the story goes on, but Lily’s point of view is always the most relaxed. The action picks up moderately in the final act and the ending leaves things open for another series installment.
A measured but diverting medical spy thriller.Pub Date: April 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64599-325-4
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Encircle Publications, LLC
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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