A strong start to a new mystery series with a fine sense of place.
In the first novel in Searle’s planned trilogy, two brothers—a cop and a journalist—investigate two suspicious deaths in 1984 rural Minnesota.
Boston Meade itches to return to Chicago as editor-in-chief of the major newspaper American Outlook. The divorced journalist has lately served as interim chief of small-town Minnesota newspaper the Alton County Statesman since his father, the paper’s owner and editor, died. While pursuing a bootlegging story, intern Peder Norgaard discovers the bones of the long-missing Minneapolis detective Max Kaplan. Peder digs into the mystery, and soon, his own body is found at the bottom of a ravine, and his notes have gone missing. The same day, World War II veteran Eliot Ferrall is found dead in his truck, a possible suicide—but there are no fingerprints on the gun and no blood in the cab. Suspicious as the deaths are, county sheriff Jack Meade finds no hard evidence to declare them murders. Jack, who’s biracial, was an 8-year-old orphan when Boston’s white family adopted him; he and Boston have been best friends ever since, but now they’re divided by Jack’s handling of the investigations. Boston’s hired a new editor for the paper—Ginger O’Meara, whom he dated in high school—but vows to stick around until there’s closure on Peder’s death. Meanwhile, Jack faces a charged reelection battle against white Dwayne Jager, whose slogan is “He’s one of us!” Searle delivers a page-turning mystery that tackles a host of issues, including racism, immigration, family conflicts, and job stress, and even includes a bit of romance. The author is a Minnesotan himself who was raised on a farm, and he ably manages to capture the state’s landscape (“his gaze took in the fencerows that divided southeastern Minnesota into fields of corn and soybeans, oats and pastures interspersed with groves and farmsteads”) and the pleasures of small-town life in a relatively low-tech era. The book is populated by several believable and flawed characters, and the potential suspects are likely to keep readers guessing.
A strong start to a new mystery series with a fine sense of place.Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781959770442
Page Count: 268
Publisher: Calumet Editions
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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