Whimsical sleuths lead an enthralling novel that unfortunately sidelines its intriguing mysteries.
In Ruckus’ mystery novel, mergers and acquisitions consultants investigate two unusual cases in London involving a stalker and an apparent suicide.
Chance Yang, a Chinese consultant based in Tokyo, flies to London for a couple of jobs. His boss, Felipe Kazama, tells Chance to look into a client’s half-sister’s recent suicide. He traces her whereabouts and activities in an attempt to discover what led to her death. But that’s not the only reason Chance is in England—Alexander Roxborough, an “acquaintance” of Felipe’s, has asked for help, as his goddaughter, Catherine, has a stalker who has tried to break into her house. Chance, who’s certainly not a bodyguard, undergoes Krav Maga martial arts training, just in case he needs it while keeping an eye on Catherine. Simply being in London, where Chance lived six years earlier, sparks memories of an old flame who tragically died of a drug overdose. In the course of his investigations, Chance finds himself drawn to Catherine in an unexpected way. The author enriches the novel’s cast with absorbing backstories. Chance is a likably reserved consultant/amateur detective and an ideal contrast to Felipe, who’s delightfully bizarre (evidently, one of their company’s greatest perks is a Netflix subscription) with a sense of humor to match (“Do you know what happens if a vegetarian cat meets a mouse? It says to the mouse; you are lucky that I don’t eat meat; you are unlucky that my cousin does”). Felipe does have an irritating tendency to prattle on in dialogue that sometimes feels like a stream-of-consciousness exercise. As the narrative lingers on long speeches and Chance’s potential romance and self-defense course, the ongoing mysteries stagnate. Still, Chance and Felipe make an engaging duo that readers will surely welcome in sequels.
Whimsical sleuths lead an enthralling novel that unfortunately sidelines its intriguing mysteries.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 9781914195594
Page Count: 244
Publisher: UK Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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