Electrifying characters elevate this well-crafted detective tale.
This thriller finds a Brooklyn private investigator facing a vicious gangster and a dubious Russian boxer.
It hasn’t been easy for Det. Gina Marie Cototi to keep up with her hefty caseload, primarily consisting of insurance fraud. But her troubles only surge when someone steals her 1963 Corvette Stingray, a mint-condition classic that’s been in her family for 60 years. In trying to get her car back, she mingles with criminals and unavoidably incites the wrath of mobster Luca Mura. Meanwhile, an insurance case leads her to boxer Vlad Rzhevsky. The Russian seems to take a liking to Gina, and while he may prove an ally in dealing with Mura, he has his hands in such criminal endeavors as illegal steroid distribution. Gina’s encounters with Mura unsurprisingly turn dire. Luckily, she has others on her side who are much more reliable than Rzhevsky, from her older sister/roommate, Theresa, to former parole officer and potential romantic interest Rocco Benelli. Kelter delivers some terrific set pieces, including one of Rzhevsky’s boxing matches and a “hoity-toity” Japanese restaurant where something illicit is going down. An often vibrant cast complements these backdrops—the entertainingly unpredictable boxer, Gina’s not-so-legitimate businessman cousin, and her unabashedly promiscuous sister (“She projected the kind of heat that made guys walk face-first into walls. Father John at the local parish once offered to leave the church for her”). Gina herself is a well-drawn protagonist, a gumshoe who endures men’s groping hands and condescending terms of endearment (including sweetie). But in this series opener, readers see very little of the sleuth’s investigative skills, as there’s no real mystery or much evidence to dig into. She’s nevertheless capable and holds her own in confrontations, with the novel’s latter half yielding some perilous situations. The book likewise has a few shocks, especially regarding one character, who provides an effective teaser for the sequel.
Electrifying characters elevate this well-crafted detective tale.Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2024
ISBN: 9781685133528
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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