Mystery, history, and well-paced excitement in a fun read.
This third installment of a mystery series finds a couple crossing the Atlantic aboard the luxurious Isle de France, headed for Paris and a new set of murders and adventures.
It is June 16, 1929. Caroline Case and Hannibal Jones are now married, and the dynamic detectives have decided it is time to leave Chicago and the Al Capone–North Side Gang wars behind them for a while. They are enjoying dinner in a private, first-class dining room when they hear a commotion from the adjacent space. Sure enough, someone has been murdered. Seated at the head of a table, tilted in her chair, is the lifeless body of the wealthy, widowed Mrs. Rosemary Davin Pierpont. Naturally, Caroline and Hannibal are asked by Capt. Blancart to help solve the case. In between wining and dining in luxe style, as Caroline struggles with her fledgling knowledge of French, they successfully employ their superior interrogation skills and their mastery of surreptitiously obtaining the fingerprints of viable suspects. But this is just the first of their adventures. After arriving in Le Havre, they are approached by Capitaine Inspecteur Pierre Soucet, who requests their assistance in solving the brutal murder of a tourist. Their investigation, reflective of their years in Chicago, puts them in the crosshairs of Europe’s organized crime syndicates and France’s corrupt police officials. Caroline, the saucy, ebullient narrator of the novel, speaks to readers through her copious diary entries. Once again, Gertcher combines some solid, old-fashioned sleuthing with period history (including new social upheavals), photographic equipment developments, and comedy, plus a bucket full of acerbic asides. Then there are Caroline’s fabulously extravagant shopping forays into the salons of Paris’ famous designers. The unusual mixture is exemplified by a violent clash that takes place in the Chanel showroom between Caroline and the thugs trying to abduct the granddaughter of an Italian mob boss. Coco Chanel herself is on hand to serve tea during the cleanup. A humorous bonus for sartorially and gastronomically engaged readers is Caroline’s meticulous descriptions of her every wardrobe selection and meal.
Mystery, history, and well-paced excitement in a fun read.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73-514593-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wind Grass Hill
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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