Novels No. 109

 

Nicci French. The Last Days of Kira Mullan. UK: Simon & Schuster/William Morrow Large Print, 2025.

Nancy North’s worst nightmare is about to unfold. With the loving care and attention of her partner Felix, she recovered from a hospitalized breakdown – a psychotic break – due to the demands and stress of running her own boutique restaurant. Moving to an old house of four apartments, they meet fellow tenants: Harry and Olga across from them on the second floor, and Barney and Seamus in the basement. They don’t meet Kira from the main floor because she’s dead, having hung herself. Nancy realizes she’d literally bumped into Kira the day before, noting the girl’s rather fearful agitation. Hearing a few more bits of information convinces Nancy that this was no suicide, but no one takes her seriously—not with her history.

The neighbours, including Michelle and Dylan in the duplex next door, mercilessly provoke Nancy about her murder theory until she loses it again—she’s “sectioned” into a drab, cruel psychiatric facility where medication is forced on her. Privately she can’t forgive Felix for agreeing to it, and Michelle for lying to police; it feels like a conspiracy to shut her up. She’s so stubborn about not being mentally ill that it takes far too long until she understands she must play the game to earn a discharge. Only one person, DI Maud O’Connor, sees the truth in Nancy’s statements; she begins a painstaking construction of Kira’s last hours despite lies and obstructions from almost everyone. Maud is finding her professional purpose, supported by a tender new relationship. Nancy regains control of her own life.

Any one of them – or someone else – could be the killer. Tension marches along like a relentless ticking time bomb. Beautifully paced, and very unpredictable—master authors at work.

Overheard

▪ “I can’t remember her exact words, but she said something bad was happening to her, and she was going to do something about it.” Nancy concentrated so much that it hurt, trying to remember. (69-70)

▪ “Did you actually see her, or was she part of your episode? That’s why you didn’t tell me. Because you didn’t know if it was real or not.” (79)

▪ “She’s a fucking fantasist and this is my case, O’Connor,” he said. “You do your job, if you can, and I’ll do mine.” (96)

▪ Nancy suddenly noticed something about Michelle’s expression. “Has Felix been talking about me?” (101)

▪ “If you think that people are going to stand by and let you do harm to those who are suffering and grieving, then you may need to learn a lesson.” He paused and looked down at her. (144)

▪ “I’m not angry, but if you keep telling me I am, then I probably will be before long.” (331)

▪ “Do you know how much you’ve hurt me, Nancy? Do you have any idea of what I’ve done for you, what I’ve given up?” (419)

▪ “No,” Maud said sharply. “She wasn’t deluded. Kira Mullan was murdered. You tried to keep Nancy quiet.” (489)

Ashley Elston. Anatomy of an Alibi. USA: Random House Large Print, 2026.

Another unpredictable, tangled rat’s nest! Murder is on someone’s agenda and those people with potential motives are expecting police questions. The man found dead in his home office is Benjamin Bayliss, high-profile criminal defence lawyer. Wife Camille returns home Sunday morning after an overnight away, to discover his body; yesterday she was busy playing out a wholly different scenario of her own. Hank Landry, partner in the two-man law firm, is still Ben’s executor even though Ben had initiated dissolution of the partnership. No doubt police will also look at any clients or associates who did jail time or carried a grudge. Will anyone look at Aubrey, the bartender persuaded to impersonate Camille on Saturday? And how did Ben know two of Aubrey’s dodgy house-mates, men she co-opted to help her secretly alter Camille’s plan? We visit and re-visit the Saturday of the murder to see how alibis will hold up.

Camille simply wanted to free herself from a miserable marriage, by finding evidence on Ben that will nullify the rigid pre-nuptial agreement she signed. It was an extremely busy Saturday for Camille and Aubrey as their mutual plan gets disrupted, requiring spontaneous amending to their private plans. Camille’s overbearing father, Randall Everett, has strings to pull; he and his son Silas control nearly everything in town, including the police chief. Paul Granger, railroaded into Angola prison for a crime he didn’t commit, has dangerous information to share. Sneaky private investigators, spyware, an impenetrable safe, and Detective Sullivan are just some of the obstacles the two women face to solidify their alibis at the time of Ben’s death.

This one may well have you going in circles. Connections among the characters keep multiplying at a desperate pace. Ben himself pursued mysterious activities the night he died. His death has roots in a fatal car accident ten years ago. Timelines are everything. Enjoy!

Pieces

▪ Our plan was to create a clear and unwavering digital trail that started at noon and ended just before midnight. Every move planned out in advance. (14, Aubrey)

▪ Do I trust that if Camille is able to find proof of Ben’s wrongdoing that she’ll share it? No, I don’t.(78, Aubrey)

▪ I have no idea what he would do if he discovered me up here. Found out I had hidden cameras around our home to spy on him. (85, Camille)

▪ If Randall Everett decides he wants everyone to believe I killed Ben, that’s exactly what will happen. (103, Hank)

▪ Deacon squeezes my foot through the comforter. “Hey. We’re going to figure this out. Let’s give Vic a chance to get us some more info and we’ll make a plan.” (143, Aubrey)

▪ “I’m guessing it was a cop who came to see you?” I’m pushing Paul to see if he’ll trust me with Foster’s name. (178, Aubrey)

▪ It’s hard not to feel like I’ve been set up in some way. That Aubrey knew more about what was happening today than she was willing to tell me and I’m some pawn in her game. (184-5, Camille)

▪ Silas stumbles his way out of my room while Margaret sinks back down on the floor. “Don’t tell Mr. Everett I’m here. That I was with him.” (199, Ben)

Novels No. 108

 

T. Kira Madden. Whidbey. USA: Mariner Books, 2026.

Birdie Chang is on her way to Whidbey Island, off-grid for the summer, to hide from negative media scrutiny and from released convict Calvin Boyer who may try to hurt her again. On the ferry, inexplicably, she confides this to a stranger, Rich Anani, who (also inexplicably) offers to kill the man for her. Several victims’ testimonies – including her friend Francine’s – convicted Boyer as a pedophile, but Birdie’s was dismissed in court as a ten-year-old’s fabrication. Thus, what really happened to Birdie is unclear; she’s afraid of Boyer but her feelings seem conflicted. Now Linzie King, another victim, has published a tell-all book full of lies, purloining some of Birdie’s experience. Birdie’s partner Trace forbids her to read the book, knowing how upsetting it will be. Then Calvin is killed by a hit-and-run driver, mourned only by his deluded but loyal mother Mary-Beth; her sister Sylvia knows better.

Birdie learns news of the death when she secretly attends one of Linzie’s nearby book signings (of course she’s been reading the book) but does not get to confront her. When she hears the word murder being whispered, she thinks Rich made good his offer. But she also knows, if it’s true, that she herself would be a suspect. She has threatening emails from Calvin but where are the tapes he made? Later in life Linzie participates in a television dating show where unknowingly she’s set up for public shaming by the duplicitous producers. Hence she’s a traumatic wreck, becoming dependent on Yale, the true author of her book. Personal trauma becomes like an industry. Whidbey’s author lifts layer after layer off these dysfunctional people.

Madden’s style is inimitable and immediately engaging, exposing how predators exploit the pain of needy or damaged people. Birdie is an enigma much of the time, the only real mystery. Is it odd that near the end the author begins to directly address the reader? She might mess with your head if you don’t keep your wits finely tuned. Sheer genius?

Hints

▪ Trace couldn’t join me on Whidbey—the aloneness was kind of the point. The Walden experience. The great quiet. The anonymity. (24)

▪ Syl thought of them as low-lifers, Mary Beth knew, embarrassed of her sister working the gas pumps, her nephew on the you-know-what registry, unless she was swooping in to help them. (36)

▪ Calvin Boyer made me feel special. Before we get to the villain of him, you should know he listened to me. He was kind to me, an online companion, and the son of our school bus driver—there was no reason not to trust him. (Linzie’s book, 56)

▪ That’s how this death pain felt, a rubber band stretched beneath the bones of Mary-Beth’s feet, then secured at the top of her skull where headaches came on. (83)

▪ If what I did was really that bad why did you come to my house after Francine did? Francine told you what would happen. That I liked you both. (From one of Cal’s letters, 157)

▪ “They CONNED you. They chose your narrative, and you followed like a duckling. This is Manipulation Tactics, 101.” (Yale, 218)

▪ Ms Boyer, Odette said. Linzie’s book’s an abomination, we both know this. And she’s directly profiting off the death of your son. (225)

Lauren Ling Brown. Society of Lies. USA: Bantam Books, 2024.

It’s Princeton University world, as experienced by two young women. The private eating clubs were new to me, where the majority of upperclassmen eat, party, and network. Invitations and initiations are involved. Maya attended Princeton ten years ago on scholarship; now her beloved sister Naomi is graduating. Both are/were members of Sterling House but also of its exclusive secret society, Greystone—quite a privilege for girls of humble origins and mixed parentage in a milieu where racism is alive and well. But Naomi is found dead – drowned in the lake – during a celebratory evening. Maya is stunned; she can’t accept it as an accident. Did anyone want to harm her sister? She wants the truth, no matter how painful, and that means talking to people close to Naomi. People like her ex-boyfriend Liam, and Professor Matthew DuPont, an influential force in Greystone.

I’m struggling for brief but salient words on a complex novel of many threads and nuances. What follow are parallel tracks—Naomi’s months before she died and the back story of Maya’s own Princeton days. Similar paths are evident in how they made friends, being tapped for an elite club, and falling in love. Maya-past and Maya-present are distinct in what she knew or learned at different times. Disturbingly, Naomi’s death reminds Maya of her friend Lila’s fatal accident years ago. Having failed to protect her sister, she’s determined to investigate her suspicions that Greystone’s smug facade hides something dangerous. Members are for life, powerful enough to have any indiscretions erased; bribery or blackmail work well, as Maya becomes a victim herself. She keeps it all to herself, not telling future husband Nathan, nor her friends who had championed her Greystone entry.

A challenging read, for sure. The weaving together of two chilling stories doubles the tension, each sister in turn trying to expose corruption and crimes with different methods – and outcomes. Although the societies are fictional, this collaborative world emits the sour taste of reality.

Maya

▪ Lila’s warning surfaced in my thoughts again. A whisper, louder this time: Get out while you can. GET OUT! (107)

▪ This man had a life I’d never dreamed possible for someone like me. And yet he too had started with nothing ... Maybe being close to Professor DuPont was the way to a better life for Naomi. (114)

▪ “They let you in because right now it’s a good look to have one light-skinned Black girl around.” (168)

▪ “A lot of people here are extremely connected. Sons and daughters of some of the most powerful people in the world. Sometimes our alumni need things, and we find ways to help them.” (185)

▪ Did she realize how much was at stake for all of us? For me? If something happened to Greystone, that would mean the end of my lifeline to my sister. (199)

Naomi

▪ Between our age difference and our parents passing when we were so young, Maya acts more like a parent than a sister most of the time. (45)

▪ I haven’t told Liam about Amy’s research. I trust him, but he’s a member of Greystone, and close with DuPont too. (146)

▪ “She found emails from the dean of admissions—Greystone was straight-up paying him to let their alums’ kids into the school ... Greystone covered up their part, they were never named in the scandal, just let the dean take the fall for it.” (147)

▪ I’ve been helping Amy all week, reading articles, talking to alumni under the pretense of “informational interviews,” and now my head hurts. (153)

▪ What does he mean, me of all people? How much does he know about the investigation? Does he know Amy’s behind it? (195)

Novels No. 107

 

Chris Bridges. Sick to Death. UK: Avon/HarperCollins, 2025.

Emma has a neurological condition that resonates in those of us with fibromyalgia. Hers exhibits even stronger, unpredictable physical symptoms like the numbness that can strike one side of her body—she falls quite often. Crammed into a council household with her mother Ann, her daughter Ava, despised stepfather Peter, and stepsister Becky, Emma has no spot to call her own, especially for all the fatigue she suffers. Peter’s contempt for Emma and her disability is loud and clear on a daily basis; she fantasizes killing him. By chance, she meets medical intern Adam who lives not far away on a wealthy street. Their friendship grows into love, not without questions and doubts on Emma’s part. Adam is divorcing his entitled, patronizing wife Celeste, who is making it as complicated as possible.

Both the new lovers yearn for liberation from their individual oppressors. You can see it coming: each offers to do away with the other’s nemesis. Perfect alibis will be set up. Ultimately they decide that Emma getting rid of Celeste will solve their problem—ensuring a rich inheritance for Adam and the rosy future they plan together. Of course, the best-laid plans ... and all that. The author expertly pulls twists from one manipulator to another. More than one plan, more than one murder, is hatching. Adam and Emma are not the only players desperate to remedy abusive situations. Yet motivations may differ.

In this context, women develop a strong sense of justification for committing murder—women who’ve been systemically disparaged, used, and degraded. Taking control of their lives seems worth any consequence. Perfectly paced, with great empathy for “invisible illness.”

Peeks

▪ We go through the usual ritual and I tell him that my left arm and leg don’t work properly, that I fall, faint even, sometimes. About the numb patches that plague parts of my body. (7)

▪ “Becky was a child actor. In a soap opera. She was in it from the age of thirteen.” (23)

▪ It’s endearing how this handsome and confident man has such boyish traits. (38)

▪ “You’re nothing here. You don’t even look after your own child. We have to do that for you too.” (47)

▪ We’re slowly learning about each other’s desperation. Appreciating how caged we both are. (63)

▪ I don’t want people to bestow sympathy. I want my independence, to be seen as capable and not a charity case. Conversely, I want them to know that they have to reduce their expectations. (127)

▪ “I’ve been thinking of some exercises you could do to make your arm stronger. And I could show you where to aim the knife to avoid hitting her ribs.” (149)

▪ I lull myself to sleep planning how me and Adam will live once the deed is done. The opulence and wealth that will cushion us from the dirt of reality. (200)

Tracy Clark. Echo. USA: Thomas & Mercer, 2024.

I’ve met Detective Harriet Foster before, Chicago cop living alone, dedicated to the job, fiercely guarding her private life. Her previous partner Det. Glynnis Thompson apparently killed herself with a gunshot to the head; an anonymous caller to Harriet insists that “G” had been a dirty cop and he will expose the evidence. Harriet doesn’t buy it, determined to prove otherwise despite warnings from her boss and Internal Affairs to drop it. Meanwhile a dead student, Brice Collier, is found outside the mansion where he lives, adjacent to a college campus heavily endowed by the Collier family. Alcohol poisoning killed him—that and other evidence shows similarities to Michael Paget’s death thirty years ago. Interviews are necessary with the many young people who had partied in his house that night. More interesting is Harri’s personal mission to find the truth about Glynnis. While her now-partner Vera Li hopes Harri will learn to stop burying her feelings, Harri’s mother provides a connection from the family’s own past.

I didn’t mention the novel’s melodramatic introduction where Justice-as-allegory targets Sebastian Collier through his son and heir Brice—the stilted device seems too artificial to take seriously in this genre. “Justice” doesn’t hold up at all; the real theme is vengeance for sins of the fathers. Everyone wants payback in this story, even revenge on the avengers. It’s hard to keep an interest in the slow-moving, non-compelling Paget-Collier revenge scenario; Harri’s overthinking and withheld feelings slow any attempt at suspense in her Glynnis investigation. Eventually my lack of curiosity and care about the characters took hold: exposition reveals answers to any questions, most actions take place offstage, and too many voices are inserted. Only the banter dialogue between the partners kept me plodding.

Collier death

▪ “We came about one body,” Vera said, “and you’ve given us two?” (77)

▪ “They have to suffer slowly, like they did. They died a little bit more every day, and you know it.” (132)

▪ “A shot at a six-figure job in the corporate world? Sebastian Collier recommending you for it? Who’s not going to go for the hookup if you can get it, right?” (149)

▪ With the death of his son, his progeny, what Sebastian Collier wanted was payback, and Lange had been charged with making the transaction. (195)

▪ “They might want to take another swipe. Anything to get Collier’s attention and force him back so they can get at him.” (247)

Glynnis death

▪ Dead and gone. Out of sight, out of mind. Cop suicides made the department look bad, and the attention was unwanted at the top. (13)

▪ “I am owed, Detective Harriet Foster. I was wronged. And you have a debt to pay.” (102)

▪ “The fact that you think you can do it alone is why I won’t let you do it alone.” (107)

▪ “If I can prove it, I’ll make him pay.” She rose. “Don’t worry.” (129)

▪ Someone always knew a cop who worked with a cop they knew. (136)

▪ She’d heard his voice. He had sounded solid, locked in, vengeful, not crazy. (180)

Novels No. 106

 

Lisa Jewell. Don’t Let Him In. USA: Atria Books, 2025.

In the Swann household, Aislin (“Ash”) seems a rather aimless young woman, way overqualified for working retail in a thrift shop; she’s mourning her father Paddy, killed in a freak accident. Her mom Nina is almost ready to move on when she meets charismatic Nick Radcliffe. In another household, Martha has three young-ish children and runs a successful floral business, accustoming herself to the job demands of her second husband Alistair, who is often called away for days in the hotel business. A third POV comes from an anonymous male “four years earlier.” He is busy deceiving his wife Tara about his work and his finances, hiding a head-over-heels affair with a younger woman. Is it obvious that three women – or three men – are going to connect somehow?

Each woman considers her husband/partner the perfect man—thoughtful, caring, sensitive, smart, fun. You know what they say about “too good to be true”? “I’m really sorry, darling” is the constant refrain excusing himself for working away from home for days on end. How long before the smitten woman asks for more answers about his hardworking, erratic job? Ash Swann is feeling very protective of mom Nina, who now manages Paddy’s three thriving restaurants. Ash doesn’t realize that what she starts as a mild investigation of Nick is going to blow the lid off the most bizarre activities. Chronology shifts between the present and recent past. It helps to make a chart as you go.

Never underestimate a master crime writer spinning a tale that, serpent-like, coils back on itself. So inventive it’s guaranteed to cause dizziness. This is a solid, engrossing example of why Lisa Jewell is known as the U.K. suspense queen.

Bits

▪ “Aha,” he says, striding into the room, all teeth and good hair and expansiveness, kindness, warmth, and glow. “Lovely to see you again.” (25-6)

▪ Instead, she opens her mouth just a crack and half whispers the words: “Jonathan, the police are here.” (51)

▪ I want to break her jaw. I want to feel it shatter under my hardened knuckles. (54)

▪ This marriage ends when I am ready for it to end, and not a moment sooner. (62)

▪ “Darling,” I say in that voice I use when I’m with her: clipped, elegant, private school, not the soft, swollen, northern lilt I use when I’m with Martha. (76)

▪ I garner sympathy, I foster team spirit, and then I find ways to extract money. (94)

▪ “Christ, Jonathan. You are such a bullshitter. Literally every word that comes out of your mouth is a lie.” (139)

▪ He is everything, this man. He is everything. And she finds herself throwing her arms around him and squeezing him hard to her ... (161)

Ruth Kelly. The Ice Retreat. UK: Pan Books, 2024.

TCDC* The opening scene is harrowing enough to warn you it’s going to be a rough journey. Investigating a suspicious business operation is one thing, but adding a disturbed protagonist immediately piles on the tension before even stepping forth. I should have paid more attention to my radar on high alert; not what I signed up for? Hollie had a successful season of her Bad Medicine cable series and wants a stunning pilot to guarantee a second. Her burning sights are set on exposing the Ice Retreat, a Swiss-located healing therapy spa that promises relief from all kinds of pain. Hollie is obsessed with their leader, Ariel Rose, convinced it’s all a huge criminal fraud that conceals the “patients” who don’t recover. Not one to restrain her opinions, she’s being warned by her producer Grace and her sometime husband Mikkel to drop the idea or she’ll go off the deep end—hints of past trauma for Hollie.

Yes, I gave it a good go and plowed on even further, but force-feeding drugs and hallucinations and Nordic fantasy creatures turn me right off. I wish Hollie good luck and a personal therapist.

* TOO Creepy, Didn’t Continue

Robyn Harding. The Drowning Woman. Hachette Book Group, 2023.

Lee Gulliver is living in her car, homeless in Seattle. It’s a huge comedown for an ambitious woman once proudly operating her own boutique restaurant in New York. She’s at the mercy of random thieves who stole her ID and surly Randy, boss of the dingy diner where she works. When Lee instinctively foils an attempted suicide, a bond grows with perpetrator Hazel. Like Lee, Hazel is living in fear, but unlike Lee, she is trapped in a wealthy but sadistic marriage. Did I know where this was leading? Yikes. The two women hatch a plan for Hazel to safely flee from her abusive, controlling husband Benjamin, but Lee is distracted on meeting Jesse, a man who treats her with gentleness and respect. A plan for Hazel’s escape finally involves all three of them but none of it goes accordingly, to Lee’s horror.

Switchabout to Hazel as narrator. A dead man is only the start of new troubles. It becomes clear that each woman suspects the other of double-crossing her with hidden motives. Mutual trust is gone; neither Lee nor Hazel has anyone else to rely on. Will the police or the gangsters find them first? Engulfed by convoluted events, their dreams of beginning a new life are more elusive than ever. For readers raised in the nineteenth century, the concept of total power exchange in a marriage should be educational. Which woman is worse or better off if another man dies?

It’s almost as if the plot is being lost in a snare of emotional turmoil. The predictable ending softens a very intense read, but Canadian author Harding has earned her chops.

Lee

▪ When my restaurant was failing, my life’s dream crumbling before my eyes, I lied, I cheated, and I manipulated. (5)

▪ I’ve been drowning in loneliness and Jesse is oxygen. (75)

▪ Does Hazel really expect me to let myself into her home? To risk an encounter with a violent man? (93)

▪ I didn’t question him about his history because I had secrets, too, parts of myself I wanted to hide. (188)

▪ It is not too late to turn back. To head directly to Sea-Tac airport and get on that plane. (196)

Hazel

▪ “That doesn’t sound like a marriage, Hazel. It sounds like a master and a slave.” (33)

▪ “My god...,” she says softly. “You could pass for me. We’re about the same height. And size. And now we have the same hair.” (92)

▪ I’d sold my freedom for a life of privilege and luxury. And I had agree to an arrangement that was destroying me. (117)

▪ “There’s a strange woman living in the park near your house, Hazel. And she has a knife.” (140)

▪ I knew Jesse was not simply a personal trainer. He had a past he wouldn’t talk about. (140)

▪ “My name is Detective French. We’re arresting your husband for conspiracy to commit murder.” (230)

Novels No. 105

Karin Slaughter. We Are All Guilty Here. USA: William Morrow Large Print. 2025.

A police procedural of painstaking detail, the lengthy novel centres on the small town of North Falls where two teenage girls have been abducted. Statistically, finding them fast is the only way they might still be alive. Sheriff Gerald Clifton’s brightest deputy is his daughter Emmy, whose best friend is Hannah, mother of missing Madison. The second girl missing is Cheyenne; the two have been inseparable pals. Emmy’s guilt over having brushed off Madison earlier that evening drives her to reckless actions in the search. Hannah blames her for the missed opportunity to talk with Maddy that – possibly – could have forestalled the later kidnapping. Their friendship is over even though Emmy pulls some heroics in locating the girls, and perpetrator Adam Huntsinger faces life in prison.

Suddenly, hello: it’s twelve years later. Huntsinger is released on bail when new evidence shows that he was busy attacking a woman miles away on the night that Maddy and Cheyenne disappeared. Nevertheless Emmy is convinced Huntsinger abducted them. Her life has changed—she’s divorced; father Gerald at ninety-plus is still sheriff, but urging Emmy to run for election; son Cole is a newbie deputy; and her mother Myrna is deep in dementia. Soon after Huntsinger’s release, young Paisley Walker disappears from where her trashed bicycle was found; it feels like history repeating itself. Emmy’s stress level is compounded when her father is shot to death and she becomes acting sheriff to collaborate with the FBI. The dramatic entrance of Dr. Jude Archer to the case throws her off-kilter.

The deeper into the story one goes, the more dysfunctional the Clifton family looks. Emmy’s inability to express emotions causes much of the suspense, as the search for Paisley goes on. Caveats: the author’s habit of delaying exposition of non-intuitive past events can be irritating; of the many twists and turns, a final surprise is one too many, IMO. But deconstructing the crimes and Slaughter’s deft psychological insight make the novel completely absorbing.

So many potential quotes in over 700 pages (large print)!

▪ “They were only popular because people were afraid of crossing them, and now that they’re gone, it’s like nobody remembers how cruel they are.” (111)

▪ “I want you out of here. Don’t call me. Don’t email me. Don’t text me. Don’t try to talk to me. Don’t even send me a goddam letter.” (131)

▪ “You recruited Cheyenne and Madison when they were ninth graders.” (181)

▪ She dove into the deep end of the pond, slicing under the surface like a knife. (247)

▪ Her body was turning against her, trying to push out the grief that she kept trying to swallow back down. (333)

▪ “Eventually, they’re gonna find a witness who’ll testify that she was touching the gun when it went off.” (342)

▪ “A man has to prove himself once. A woman has to prove herself every day.” (373)

▪ “You told Dad you wouldn’t step foot back in town until he was dead. Is this your victory lap?” (436)

Kathy Reichs. Fire and Bones. Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2024.

It’s been an eon since I read a novel based on Dr Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist. On the eve of the Memorial Day weekend, Tempe allows her daughter’s friend, up-and-coming journalist Ivy Doyle, to interview her about fire fatalities. Ivy’s online piece triggers Dr Jada Thacker to beg for Tempe’s help with recovery of victims in a disastrous DC fire. There goes Tempe’s weekend plan to spend it with her partner, Andrew Ryan. At the fire scene, she meets Capt. Hickey who directed the operation on the blazing old Victorian structure, and surly arson inspector, Sgt Burgos. Four bodies (i.e. what’s left of the charred remains) are found as expected. But a hidden sub-cellar is revealed, unaffected by the fire, where a small woman’s murdered body is concealed in a burlap bag. No one seems interested in a cold case from the 1940s except Tempe, who stays on in DC as Ivy’s guest—Ivy who is relentlessly pursuing the fire story.

Violent Crimes Detective Deery is in charge of the aftermath, especially when a second fire breaks out nearby. Tempe gets history and architecture lessons on Washington’s Foggy Bottom area as Ivy searches for ownership of the two properties. With Ivy’s boyfriend Ben Zanetti they discuss theories of cause and motive for the fires; Deery disdains Tempe’s efforts at investigating until she’s proven on the right track. But someone is warning Tempe off, someone who scares her. A smattering of genetic genealogy is offered to clarify an extended family of suspects. Real danger aside, Ivy provides a superb Thai chef and the dialogue with a range of characters is great fun.

In spite of some macabre burnt-body descriptions, the novel has charm due to the warmth and wit of Tempe herself. Some of her (mostly) private thoughts are worth repeating:

▪ To say Ivy Doyle was charismatic would be like saying the Atlantic Ocean was damp. (10)

▪ I awoke with my heart busting dance moves in my chest. (141)

▪ “Burgos has an ego the size of a container ship.” (149)

▪ Apparently, we’d be doing some surveillance before approaching the Stoll brothers. An activity as exciting as watching dust settle. (192)

▪ A shapeless apricot housecoat draped her large frame, flattering as a hospital gown on a corpse. (219)

▪ The tension in the room was thick enough to roast in a pan. (226)

Other bits

▪ “I know this fire isn’t the story of the century, but scoring an on-air interview with a celebrity scientist will improve my visibility.” (10)

▪ “But this is so simple.” Spreading her impeccably manicured hands. “You must stay with me.” (38)

▪ Had she offended someone? Seemed unlikely, the kid was Canadian. (106)

▪ Besides the heart-stopping good looks, the man had the warmth of an old parish priest, and the manners of a royal at court. An extremely winning trifecta. (136)

▪ “Oh, my God. Are you a fan of The Oak Ridge Boys?” (166)

▪ “You do understand that you’re not a cop?” (187)

▪ Ordering me to back off from my investigation? My investigation of what? The Foggy Bottom property? The four fire victims? The subcellar lady in the burlap bag? (212)

▪ It was as if a spigot had suddenly been turned. The spike from rational to manic was shocking. And terrifying. (227)

 

Novels No. 104

 

Freida McFadden. The Tenant. USA: Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks, 2025.

Blake Porter must be the world’s unluckiest man. A very respected VP marketing manager, suddenly he’s fired for reasons he knows nothing about. At least his loving fiancée Krista, who shares his home, is empathetic. After all, he’s a sensitive, New-Age man. With the drastic loss of income, he’s forced to rent out a room in his Manhattan brownstone to cover his mortgage payments. The only decent applicant is agreeable Whitney Cross and she fits right in. Until she doesn’t. Small aggravations aimed at Blake—eating all his breakfast cereal, using up all his shampoo—start growing to major proportions for a man stressed over finding a new job. He blames Whitney for adding a highly allergenic chemical to his special laundry detergent, and for the untimely death of Goldy, their pet goldfish.

Krista is charmed with the woman, and dismisses Blake’s complaints. When Blake confronts her, Whitney denies the accusations and any vendetta, but the incidents get even more bizarre and Krista thinks it’s all in Blake’s disturbed head—she takes a temporary time-out in the relationship. When events build to the point where Blake is under police suspicion of murder, he’s shocked into realizing he needs to stop reacting and go proactive. Ah: comes the superb twist. McFadden doesn’t stop at just one twist, though. Here’s an author with all the right ingredients for a top-drawer, absorbing psychological adventure.

Bits

▪ “Just get out. And forget about a severance package after what you pulled. Don’t even think of applying for unemployment. I’ll prosecute you for theft, you piece of shit.” (8)

▪ I can’t let anything happen to Goldy. She’s our practice child, and if we let her die, that seems like an ominous harbinger for the future. (47)

▪ What is wrong with this woman? What on earth did I do to make her hate me this much? (111)

▪ I love my home, and Whitney has turned it into a living hell. I’ve just dished a little back to her. (122)

▪ I am in danger of losing Krista if I don’t try to fix things. She’s acting like I’ve become unhinged lately, and that’s not true. (135)

▪ “You’re constantly flying into uncontrollable rages over nothing. You’re extremely paranoid. You’ve basically threatened me.” (193)

▪ “Mrs. Cross?” I say. (228)

Jinwoo Park. Oxford Soju Club. Canada: Dundurn Press, 2025.

This slim spy novel of just over 200 pages was well-received critically, and fellow authors have called it “intelligent” and “riveting.” It’s different. In both plot and style. Apparently the publisher’s blurb had attracted me but it took me at least fifty pages to get a hazy grip on what’s happening. Chalk it up to aging brain? Or it’s simply not user-friendly. It’s more about Korean emigration and identity than spook culture. The first person we meet is Korean Yohan Kim who is masquerading as Junichi Nakamura, a Japanese Frenchman, a post-grad student. Oxford, of course, is full of international students and academics. Yohan is often in the company of Doha, his professor and commander. Secret agents of rival powers, among them a Korean-American young woman who works as a bartender, are not easy to distinguish—nearly every one of them has more than one alias. Whatever their country of affiliation, they are trained to follow orders without question.

Soju is a popular alcoholic drink and the Soju Club is more or less the Korean equivalent of a pub. I’m revealing as little as possible because if you read it, it’s best you fend for yourself. Dead bodies are piling up as Yohan questions his existence. The narrative shifts from one agent to another with generic headings such as “The South Korean” or “The American” or “The Exiled” or “The Rejected” and others, but usually the character reveals itself by word or deed. It’s more problematic when a chapter occurs in an unidentified place and time period. Yet the message of loyalty and individual freedom is integrated.

Watchers are everywhere in the intricate, byzantine world of espionage; in this particular case, it may be difficult to relate to them as fellow human beings. Although the story line is confusing or mysterious at times—with a sly surprise at the heart of it—the author wields a powerful pen.

Peeks

▪ “There will be a time when none of us will be here for you,” Doha once said in passing, his soju glass dangling from his fingers, filled to the brim. (19)

▪ “Remember, your identity is your strongest weapon. Forget who you are. Yohan Kim is no good here. But Junichi Nakamura, he is part of the world.” (21)

▪ “It’s called the American dream. I think it’s a wonderful concept. Like everyone is living the same self-centred delusion.” (27)

▪ He must always be ready to leave each and every place. He must never allow himself to be comfortable anywhere and he must never connect with anyone. (70)

▪ “You understand what’s going on, right?” she says, pointing to the photos strewn across the table in front of him. “You’re being liquidated.” (89)

▪ “How many people does it take to make one of you? How many trainees get squeezed into the system for someone like you to come out the other end?” (108)

Novels No. 103

 

Tom Baragwanath. Paper Cage. Australia: The Text Publishing Company, 2022.

Alert: the novel describes the deep racism between two cultures; it can be disturbing.

A New Zealand town. It has a defined neighbourhood of aboriginal residents where half-Maori Sheena Henry lives with Keith Makara, leader of a gang called the Mongrels. Their young son Bradley is a shining light for his great-aunt Lorraine Henry who regrets that the drug of choice in the home seems to be crystal meth—great quantities being available among the Maori gangs. Our narrator Lorraine works as a clerk for the local police station, deploring the environment her beloved Bradley lives in; she loves Sheena but resents Keith’s bad influence and is not always welcome in their surroundings. When Bradley is the third child in that area to disappear completely, Lorraine turns sleuth whether Chief Ambrose likes it or not.

The small police station is supplemented by Detective Justin Hayes from Wellington, joining the search for missing children. He’s a man who appreciates Lorraine’s knowledge of both the police files and the local tensions. Are the kids being used as pawns in a drug war? Keith seems as frantic as they are to find his son but he won’t cooperate with any gang information. Lorraine’s good friend Patty provides welcome support, but our two dedicated hunters are walking straight into murder and mayhem and heart-stopping moments. Many words and terms are colloquial, e.g. “patched” is a gang member; “faheka” is a non-aboriginal person, such as Lorraine (please forgive the absence of diacritical marks.)

The entire landscape comes alive with this talented author’s words, and he’s beautifully drawn an introspective voice for Lorraine. Love and loyalty, death and despair; nothing will stop this woman from bringing Bradley home to his family. Yet that presents a conflict between family solidarity and a child’s best interests. Moreover, there’s tragedy in the apparently irreconcilable extremes of mistrust when people try to justify violent actions.

Pokes

▪ It’s a plastic bag, almost empty, the powder inside like shards of dark sugar. The red lines at the edges of Sheena’s eyes. (40)

▪ “He damn near killed a guy, Sheena!” I point through the window. “Right outside, remember?” (42)

▪ “You want to share a roof with Sheena, that’s her call. But if I hear of any more patched stuff going on around Bradley, it won’t be like last time.” (44)

▪ It’s like Patty says, it’s a wonder they can keep track of their kids at all, that lot. (50)

▪ “But this whole turf war idea doesn’t hang together. You know it doesn’t.” (67)

▪ Us and them, Aunty or no, it’s still the same. Our kids might be missing, the answer just one locked door away, but these are lines that won’t be redrawn. (82)

▪ He takes a bite, chewing deliberately. “Most love is about fear, you know.” (96)

▪ The shotgun barrel swings back to me and there’s a blinding flash, a hundred sunrises flaring all at once. (122)

▪ “They’re taking from you, taking all the time. They take so much, I wonder what’s left for yourself.” (187)

Shari Lapena. A Stranger in the House. Canada: Doubleday Canada, 2017.

After struggling with Abbott Kahler’s mirror-image twins in Where You End (gave up p. 116), this Lapena novel was a relief: steady, straightforward, and somewhat predictable. Karen Krupp crashed her car at high speed in a panic one night, now recovering from her bangs and bruises but with total amnesia of the whole event. She comes under suspicion when a murdered man is discovered near where she crashed. Detectives Rasbach and Jennings believe the amnesia is fake despite the medical opinion; they find evidence she had been at the site. Even husband Tom is beginning to doubt her diagnosis because even after she’s recovered, Karen is acting strangely jumpy. So many times the couple declare their love for each other, but the words have no impact without character development.

Something is bothering Karen, and it apparently precedes the fatal night. Good friend and neighbour Brigid Cruikshank is acting strangely too. Unable to conceive a child that she’d love to have, Brigid has too much time on her hands while husband Bob spends most of his time tending to his funeral home business. Everyone has secrets, of course, and the pace only picks up when Karen secretly recovers most of her memory. Lawyer Jack Calvin is needed because Karen is about to be arrested and Tom is about to be shocked. Why passively cringing Tom is an object of desire for two women eludes me.

The lack of character insight makes for a tedious journey through a predictable plot with moments that seem artificially contrived. Far too much dwelling on anxious thoughts and unspecified fears. My “relief” was brief; it’s disappointing, unlike other Lapena books I’ve read.

Snips

▪ “Yeah, well, lots of housewives have a secret drug habit that hubbie knows nothing about,” Kirkton says. (16)

▪ Karen knows that whatever kind of trouble she might be in, Brigid would drop everything and race to her side. (60)

▪ He remembers the ease with which his wife lied to them about the gloves. In contrast, he had lied badly, and they all knew it. (92)

▪ She really isn’t the woman he thought she was. She’s much tougher, much harder, and much more damaged than he ever suspected. (191)

▪ His world is coming completely apart. He doesn’t know what to do, how to act. (194)

▪ If she were alone in this room with Rasbach, she might make a mistake. But Calvin is here to make sure that doesn’t happen. (196)

▪ What if she visits Karen in jail and tells her what he did? (223)