This dogged sleuth will need time off to recover from this exhausting but enjoyable novel.
A werewolf detective runs up against more fellow supernatural beings than he’d bargained for in this installment of Carpenter’s series.
Iowa-based Joe Butler is ready for a vacation. Peter, a member of his werewolf pack, invites him on a trip to his family’s cabin on a Minnesota lake. Joe is introduced to Peter’s younger brother Parker, who is an amateur ghost hunter. They tag along with Parker’s team of paranormal investigators to a local hotel, where they encounter an angry ghost; shortly afterward, Parker is murdered. The local pack, and the deputy who is officially in charge of investigating Parker’s murder, don’t make much of an effort to investigate. Peter gets called back to Iowa by the pack leader, but Joe volunteers to stay to find Parker’s killer. Because of how the murder was committed, vampires, not ghosts, become the primary suspects (“Vampires can transform into bats and clouds of mist as well as exert control over electronic devices”). Joe struggles to find anyone with a motive to kill Parker; he soon learns that the Minnesota woods are full of supernatural creatures working in opposition to each other, and that Parker may have been collateral damage. Joe gets help from an unexpected source: Parker’s ghost appears to him, explaining that recently minted spirits can’t cross over, and that more ghosts are being forced to return from the other side. Joe must determine who is behind this situation and Parker’s murder. Carpenter has fashioned this second volume of his Joe the Werewolf series into an educational outing for his lead character that will prove equally compelling to his readers. In addition to the were-beasts, aliens, and vampires with which he’s familiar, Joe here encounters sasquatches, ghosts, and hodags (evil creatures that spring from the ashes of cremated oxen). The revelation that so many exotic beings are living among humans is what makes Carpenter’s work fun—readers will be engaged while encountering various supernatural creatures along with Joe, who gets roped into the role of peacemaker trying to get the various groups to work together against a common threat.
This dogged sleuth will need time off to recover from this exhausting but enjoyable novel.Pub Date: June 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798281544696
Page Count: 292
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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