Fabulous Fiction Firsts #848, The Great American Road Trip
Housemates,* Emma Copley Eisenberg’s fiction debut (also available in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is an "exceptional, keenly observed meditation on art and love in a fractured America." (People Magazine)
Bernie Abbott, a barista and photographer answers an ad (four Swarthmore grads, looking for a fifth housemate… queer preferred) where she meets Leah McCausland, a media studies PhD candidate and begins an intense and defiantly uncategorizable friendship. Both aspire to capture the world around them: Leah through her writing; Bernie through her photography.
When Bernie's former photography professor, the once-renowned but now-denounced Daniel Dunn, dies and leaves her a complicated inheritance, Leah volunteers to accompany Bernie to his home in Mifflin County to pick up Dunn's belongings, and the pair sets off on a three-week journey that takes them through central Pennsylvania.
“En route, they encounter rebellious cigarette-smoking Amish teens outside a country buffet and smarmy men lurking around their motel, and their partnership becomes not just creative but romantic." (Publishers Weekly)
“The 2016 presidential election and the Covid-19 pandemic offer temporal touchstones. Shifting mores around sexuality and gender, the complicated demands of social justice movements, how we deal with bad people who create good art, and the difference between recording and actually seeing are just some of the topics Eisenberg lays out before setting her Gen Z protagonists loose to explore them… Eisenberg has a poet's eye for truth, and her prose is gorgeously precise and empathetic while remaining cleareyed. Emotionally rich and quietly thought-provoking, this is simply a stunning debut.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Off the Books * by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier (also available in downloadable eBook) is a fresh take on the classic American road novel.”
Mei dropped out of Dartmouth just shy of graduation when her father died unexpectedly. Estranged from her mother, she leaned on her eccentric, pot-smoking, video game-playing lǎoyé (Mandarin for "grandfather") who bought her a car and convinced her to work off-the-book as a chauffeur, mostly for sex workers. Then he set her up with Henry Lee who hired Mei to drive him cross country, from San Francisco to Syracuse.
Handsome and reserved, Henry piques Mei's interest. But what intrigues her most is his devotion to the enormous black suitcase which he totes everywhere, more concerned with taking frequent breaks than making good time on the road.
“It's not long before we learn his secret: Stowed in his luggage is an 11-year-old Uyghur girl named Anna, whom he's trying to reunite with her father, who's in trouble with Chinese authorities.” (The Guardian)
“Frazier expertly weaves historic and contemporary injustices faced by Chinese Americans and Uyghurs through this fast-paced, propulsive book, which is at its most powerful when depicting the way Mĕi's family navigates life after catastrophe. She has a knack for writing funny dialogue--scathing sarcasm underpinned by a great deal of love--and there are plenty of hilarious exchanges to lighten the dark political context of the novel. A vital, enthralling debut in which devastating social commentary is delivered with a wink.” (Kirkus Reviews)
How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund? by Anna Montague (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a moving novel about love, loss, and new beginnings found on an unlikely road trip.
NYC psychologist Magda Eklund is about to turn 70 but she has no plan to celebrate, still grieving the sudden death of her life-long friend Sara. After helping the prickly widower sort through Sara’s things, she did not expect to be made custodian of Sara’s urn as well, just because the widower does not want the presence of the urn to upset his new girlfriend.
While going through Sara’s old journal, Magda discovers her friend’s last directive: plans for a road trip they would take together in celebration of Magda’s birthday. With the encouragement of her colleagues and friends, and with Sara’s urn in tow, Magda decides to hit the road.
“As Magda winds her way to the Southwest and through various touch points from their lives, she finds herself revisiting defining moments from the past, particularly her childhood and the relationship with her sister… As Magda makes her way back home, she finds herself forced to confront the realities of her relationship with Sara as well as her inner desires. Montague's debut novel imparts an affecting journey into the tricky bonds of grief and aging alongside the rewards of self-discovery.” (Booklist) For fans of Mrs. Nash's Ashes (2023)
* = Starred review
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #847, Author! Author!
The Three Lives of Cate Kay * * * (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), debut novel by Emmy Award-winning sports journalist (and a former WNBL player) Kate Fagan, is one of the most anticipated releases in the new year, and the January pick of Reese’s Book Club.
Bestselling novelist Cate Kay, elusive author of the blockbuster trilogy The Very Best is about to discover how hard the media is trying to expose her, with the filming of the series adaptation about to begin, starring the current ‘it” girl Ryan Channing. The narrative, framed as Kay's unpublished memoir, gradually unravels her story.
Anne Marie (called Annie) raised by a single mother in upstate New York, shared the dream of escaping to Hollywood with best friend and fellow thespian Amanda, after high school. A tragic accident the night before their departure forced Annie to travel alone, taking on the identity of Cass Ford, falling in with an ambitious law student named Sydney Collins. The pair moved to New York City and Cass began writing while working as a barista.
“The story is presented as Cate Kay's memoir and sprinkled with her own footnotes, but it also offers brief chapters from the first-person viewpoints of many other characters, implying that Cass has reached out to them for their perspectives. Through this documentary-like setup, author Fagan is able to round out the picture of Annie/Cass/Cate and the way she's coped with various traumas. “(Kirkus Reviews)
“Though the pace is leisurely, the tension of the story is taut and explores how ambitions clash with genuine connection and test the humanity of compassionate relationships. It is intimate and personal and digs into the often-opaque motivations of its characters. At its heart, it is about how we deal--or don't deal--when tragedy strikes. Fagan's (All the Colors Came Out, 2021) journalism-honed observational skills make her fiction debut shine.” (Booklist)
* * * = 3 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #846, Healing Fiction
The Full Moon Coffee Shop * * by Mai Mochizuki is “(a) beautifully crafted contemporary fantasy debut”, (Publishers Weekly), a Japanese national bestseller translated by Jesse Kirkwood. (Also available in downloadable eBook and audiobook).
Each of the 5 chapters focuses on an individual whose life is changed by his/her encounter at the mysterious Kyoto coffee shop that appears only on nights of a full moon.
Mizuki Serikawa, once a much sought-after television script writer, now is barely able to support herself writing scripts for supporting characters in a video game dating sim. Her last-ditch pitch to director Akari Nakayama, a former colleague, is rejected. Though sympathetic, Akari was unable to interest the company executives to take a chance. Wandering aimlessly among the Kyoto neighborhoods along the Kamo River, Mizuki chanced upon the Full Moon Coffee Shop, recommended to her by two odd-looking strangers at a bar. This turns out to be a very unusual cat café staffed by feline astrologers, serving up coffee and decadent desserts, and a reading of the customers' horoscopes.
“The coffee shop appears to several other Kyoto residents facing unexpected troubles in their personal and professional lives: director Akari, who's struggling against an unexpected attraction; actor Satsuki Ayukawa, whose career tanked after her affair with a married costar; hairdresser Megumi Hayakawa, who isn't satisfied in what she thought was her dream career; and IT startup founder Takashi Mizumoto, who is plagued with inexplicable tech trouble. The stories of all five characters subtly but cleverly intersect, pointing to an act of kindness in their pasts that gets mystically mirrored back to them in the present." (Publishers Weekly)
In this Sunday’s New York Times Book Reviews, readers will find the delightful article In Tumultuous Times, Readers Turn to ‘Healing Fiction’ - cozy, whimsical novels - often featuring magical cats - that have long been popular in Japan and Korea are taking off globally. Boy, do we need them now!
Readers who enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold (series) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (featured in the NYTimes article), might also be interested in The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa, and The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa.
* * = 2 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #845, Odd Jobs
Odd adj. strange or unexpected (OED)
Five-Star Stranger * * by Kat Tang (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a “moving and offbeat debut.” (Publishers Weekly)
For a decade our unnamed narrator offers his services on the Rent-a-Stranger app., ever so conscious of maintaining his hard-earned 5-star rating. He has been hired as a pretend fiance, a mourner at a funeral, as a drugged out brother to an aspiring writer looking for authenticity. But the most important and emotionally engaging gig for the past 8 years had been to pose as 10 year-old Lily’s father, as a long-distance truck driver in town once a week to spend time with her.
As Lily grows more inquisitive of her “father” and the family he never mentions, our stranger breaks the strict rules of maintaining a professional distance from his clients and puts his career in jeopardy. His backstory also slowly emerges - of a childhood interrupted by a cross-country move, a single mother who committed suicide in his teens, shedding light on his needs to be love and be loved.
“Provocative, self-assured…Tang plays deftly with the conventions of romantic comedy, tempting the reader to long for the promise of happy endings and then throwing cold water on those hopes and embedding sharp ethical dilemmas in a cocoon of diverting dialogue. A smart look at people-pleasing taken to its illogical extreme.” (Kirkus Reviews)
Wordhunter * the debut novel by true-crime author Stella Sands (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a gritty buddy-cop mystery that pairs two unlikely individuals.
21 year-old, tattooed, pierced, hard-drinking, motorcycle-riding Maggie Moore, raised in ”the poverty-stricken armpit of rural central Florida", is a graduate student in forensic linguistics, a savant who has the uncanny ability to analyze words and speech patterns. Recommended by her professor, she successfully deciphers notes left by a stalker-turned-rapist to help the local police in identifying the pert.
When Heidi, the young daughter of the mayor in the near-by town has been kidnapped, the Police Chief is eager to get Maggie involved. Paired with Silas Jackson, the gruff, seasoned detective who harbors his own secrets, the duo begin to analyze the texts, emails, and verbal tics of various suspects. The case triggers traumatic memories for Maggie whose best friend Lucy Tidwell went missing 7 years ago.
“The more Maggie and Jackson dig, the more they worry that the culprit might be too powerful to touch--and that they've unwittingly affixed targets to their own backs. Sands nails the genius investigator formula on her first try, spinning Maggie into a memorable heroine and handing her an enthralling first case. This transfixes from the first page. “ (Publishers Weekly)
** = 2 Starred Reviews
*= Starred Review
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #844
Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, (and the ONLY debut novel to be named) The Safekeep* * by Yael van der Wouden (author website), which the judges called “a compelling and atmospheric story of obsession and secrets… (is) a novel that explores the things that are kept from us as children and the things we tell ourselves about our own hidden desires." (Also available in downloadable eBook and audiobook.)
Summer, 1961. In the rural Dutch province of Overijssel, Isabel lives alone in her late mother's country home. Fastidious and compulsive, she spends her days counting and caring for all the objects that came with the house when the family moved there in 1944. But her routine and discipline are upended when Louis, her older brother who inherited the property announces that his new girlfriend Eva will move in for the summer while he travels for work. Eva is messy, sleeps late and is too friendly with the maid. When things start disappearing around the house, Isabel's suspicions begin to spiral. At that point, the story takes an unexpected and dramatic turn that leads to stunning realizations about the women's entwined history.
“This is a beautifully realized book, nearly perfect, as van der Wouden quietly explores the intricate nuances of resentment-hued sibling dynamics, the discovery of desire (and the simultaneous discovery of self), queer relationships at a time when they went unspoken, and the legacy of war and what it might mean to have been complicit in its horrors. A brilliant debut, as multifaceted as a gem.” (Kirkus Reviews)
"For readers who appreciate introspective historical fiction and LGBTQ+ coming out stories."(Booklist)
* * = 2 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #843, Second Chances
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook), a “delightfully quirky office comedy” (Publishers Weekly)
33 year-old Jolene Smith, an administrative assistant at the regional office of Supershop, a Canadian supermarket chain, endures 8-hours of mind-numbing work alongside her insufferable boss and incompetent colleagues, sustained only by copious amounts of gin, vodka and wine, whatever is handy.
A careless mistake lands her in mandatory anti-harassment training, under the supervision of the new (and very hot) HR guy Cliff. An IT mix-up that is meant to allow Management to monitor her every keystroke, instead grants her access to the entire office’s private emails and DMs. With layoff rumors looming, Jolene realizes this might just be the key to getting revenge and getting ahead in the company.
“As Jolene gets to know her co-workers better, she sees that they all have their secret heartbreaks and struggles, just like her… A beautiful, honest, and often funny look at loneliness and the courage it takes to simply keep going.” (Kirkus Reviews) Perfect for fans of Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
The Love of My Afterlife (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) by Kirsty Greenwood, is “a boisterous death-defying rom-com.” (Publishers Weekly)
27 year-old Delphie Bookham never expects to end up in the afterlife waiting room choked on a microwaveable burger. If that’s not embarrassing enough, she is standing in her 'shine like a star' nightie in front of the hottest man she has ever seen, and their chemistry is undeniable. Unfortunately, he is not meant to be there. Without hesitation, Delphie makes an impulsive deal with her romance-obsessed afterlife therapist, Merritt: Delphie gets 10 days to return to life and find the mysterious man. If she fails, she will spend eternity as the guinea pig for Merritt's afterlife dating agency.
“Returning to her quiet apartment with only 10 days to change her fate, Delphie learns that finding one's soulmate in the busy streets of London is challenging. More surprising is how Delphie's temporary new lease on life causes her to see her job, her friends, and her neighbors in new ways.” (Library Journal)
Fans of The Good Place should snap this up.” (Publishers Weekly)
BONUS PICK
Shortlisted for the 2024 Kirkus Prize for Fiction, Margo's Got Money Troubles * * by Rufi Thorpe (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is “a story of friendship, love, and family set in a different part of the big world of cyber-storytelling.” (Kirkus Reviews)
19 year-old Margo Miller, raised by a beauty-obsessed, self-involved single mother has her sights set on being a writer. A very brief affair with her junior college English (married) professor leaves her pregnant. After being fired from her waitressing job, and on the verge of being evicted, she is glad to take in her largely-absent father Jinx, an ex-pro wrestler when he comes knocking, in exchange for childcare. To generate income, Margo explores online porn work by posing on an OnlyFans account. Before she knows it, she has turned it into a runaway success… until her popularity leads to scrutiny and eventually a custody fight.
“Thorpe infuses the portrayal of Margo and Jinx's relationship with sweetness, and she makes Margo a character to root for as the young mother learns how to support herself with help from her unconventional family.” (Publishers Weekly)
“The title is the only bad thing about this book. Terrific characters, rich worldbuilding, deep thoughts about fiction and morality, a love story, and a happy ending.” (Kirkus Reviews)
* * = 2 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #842
Ferdia Lennon’s Glorious Exploits * * * (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is the 2024 winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. One of the judges called it “a riotous, exuberant treat of a novel, which celebrates the redemptive power of art, … madly ambitious and devastatingly affecting, but above all pure page-turning joy from start to finish.’’
412 BCE, Syracuse, Sicily. At the height of the Peloponnesian War, thousands of Athenian soldiers from a failed invasion were held prisoners in the limestone quarries on the outskirts of the city. Starved and left to broil in the relentless sun, the Athenians were eager to participate when 2 young Sicilians hatched an outrageous scheme.
Our narrator, 30 year-old Lampo and his friend Gelon, two directionless, unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and wine, were admirers of the great playwright Euripides. To pass the time, they frequented the quarries, offering food in exchange for a few lines of poetry. Then the friends decided to enlist the prisoners in a full-blown production of Medea and The Trojan Women.
“Glorious Exploits, is very much a story about the power of stories - and the spiritual and emotional succour they give.” (The Guardian)
“Exploring themes of friendship, loyalty, and the toll of war, Lennon evokes a time when it was common to relish and revere the art of Homer's poetry and Euripides' drama. Those with that appetite today are fortunate to have Madeline Miller, Emily Wilson, Pat Barker, and recently James Hynes' Sparrow. And Lennon. An entertaining and impressive debut.” (Kirkus Reviews)
* * * = 3 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #841
The Ministry of Time * * by British-Cambodian writer Kaliane Bradley (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a “fantastical combination of time-travel novel, spy thriller and slow-burn romance.” (BookPage)
Near future, London. An unnamed translator for Britain's Ministry of Defence is offered a plum appointment in a secret government project that gathers “expats” from across history, in a time-travel experiment. Our narrator’s task is to act as a “bridge”, assisting and orienting her assigned expat to resettle in the 21st-century.
Her charge, known as "1847" or Commander Graham Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, arriving in the future sometime before his death, thus finding himself disoriented to be surrounded by outlandish concepts such as "washing machines," "Spotify," and the collapse of the British Empire. Over the next year, what began as a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry's project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined.
“... while this quasi-futuristic tale of time and tenderness never seems to take itself too seriously, it also offers a meaningful, nuanced perspective on the challenges we face, the choices we make, and the way we live and love today. This rip-roaring romp pivots between past and present and posits the future-altering power of love, hope, and forgiveness. “ (Kirkus Reviews)
For fans of The Time Traveler's Wife (2003) by Audrey Niffenegger , and Time After Time (2019) by Lisa Grunwald.
* * = 2 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #840, Water Fantasies
Inspired by East Asian mythology, Fathomfolk,* first in the Drowned World series by Eliza Chan, (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is set in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawin where fathomfolks (sirens, seawitches, and kelpies) co-exist with humans.
The novel opens with Mira, the newly promoted captain of the border guard, and the first female half-siren to reach the rank, intends to earn the trust and respect of her human colleagues despite centuries of prejudice and discrimination. Together with her partner, Kai, a water dragon from one of the few privileged fathomfolk families, they hope to bring reforms in the human-controlled government. But everything they work towards is put in jeopardy when Nami, Kai’s rebellious sister is banished to Tiankawi and falls in with a rebel group known as the Drawbacks.
When the annual boat festival is sabotaged and humans are drowned, the government cracks down even further on fathomfolk rights. Mira and Nami find they must work together to save their city and their communities.
“Chan floats beautifully between multiple point-of-view characters, and also between different facets of Tiankawi life, from the poor to the privileged. From Nami's well-meaning immaturity to Mira's complicated feelings about her dual identity, all the characters have fully realized perspectives and goals that clash with each other in both clever political plots and exciting action scenes.” (Kirkus Reviews)
A Letter to the Luminous Deep * * by Sylvie Cathrall (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is a captivating tale of mystery and romance set in an enchanting underwater society.
The year is 1002, a thousand years after an event known as "the Dive," where sky dwellers now live in the ocean. E. Cidnosin, an introverted and anxious young woman is the sole caretaker of “Deep House”, an architectural marvel designed by her mother. Spying a mysterious sea creature outside her window prompts E. to begin a correspondence with renowned marine scholar Henerey Clel, hoping he will help her identify it. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, and then, inevitably, for each other. Then E. and Henerey disappear after an explosion at Deep House. A year later, E.'s sister Sophy, and Henerey's brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery.
As Sophy and Vyerin delve into the letters left behind by E. and Henerey, they uncover clues about their relationship and the events leading up to their disappearance. Through these letters, a tale of love, friendship, and secrets unfolds, captivating readers with its whimsical charm and intriguing plot twist. “Cathrall skillfully addresses themes of mental health and anxiety, adding depth and authenticity to the characters' experiences. With its cozy-fantasy atmosphere and rich character development, A Letter to the Luminous Deep will appeal to fans of epistolary novels and readers who enjoy stories with elements of romance, mystery, and fantasy.” (Booklist) A late confession by Arvist, E. and Sophy's brother hints at further mysteries to be solved in a sequel.
A charming fantasy set in an underwater world with magical academia and a heartwarming penpal romance, perfect for fans of A Marvellous Light, Emily Wilde's Encylopaedia of Faeries and The House in the Cerulean Sea.
* * = 2 starred reviews
* = Starred review
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #839, Murders Most British
R.J. Rozen (of the Lydia Chin/ Bill Smith series) teams up with comics exec John Shen Yen Nee to bring us the ”bewitching series kickoff that cleverly riffs on the Holmes/Watson dynamic,” (Publishers Weekly) in The Murder of Mr. Ma * * (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook).
London, 1924. When Chinese scholar Lao She was summoned by mathematician Bertrand Russell to take part in a dangerous bait-and-switch operation to free his friend Judge Dee Ren Jie, mistakenly arrested as a Chinese agitator, Lao was swept up in Dee’s murder investigation of a Chinese merchant who served with him in the Chinese Labour Corps during WWI. Then more bodies turned up, all pointing to a killer using a rare butterfly sword.
“The intricate plot, which is bolstered by vivid period detail and playfully riffs on real-life figures in Chinese history (including Lao), is enhanced by healthy doses of humor and well-orchestrated action. Readers will be clamoring for a sequel.” (Publishers Weekly)
“Fans of the Sherlock Holmes canon will appreciate this fast-paced, exciting novel.” (Library Journal)
How to Solve Your Own Murder * by Kristen Perrin (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) opens in 1965 as 17 year-old Frances Adams was told by a fortune-teller at an English country fair that one day she’ll be murdered, and one year later, her best friend Emily disappeared. The two events caused Frances to spend a lifetime compiling dirt on every person who crosses her path in an effort to prevent her own demise.
60 years have gone by, Frances, now an enormously wealthy woman, summons her grand-niece Annie, an aspiring mystery writer to the sleepy village of Castle Knoll. When Annie arrives she finds Frances dead in her library - murdered. France’s will dictates that she will leave her entire estate to Annie, but only if Annie solves her killing. Thanks to Frances's lifelong habit of digging up secrets and lies, it seems every endearing and eccentric villager might just have a motive for her murder.
“Perrin juxtaposes timelines, detailing Frances's provincial life in the 1960s while Annie's investigation grows increasingly treacherous in the present. The pace is quick, the red herrings are plentiful, and Annie's growth from timid wannabe writer to confident sleuth is beautifully rendered. Combining elements of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, and Midsomer Murders, this is a richly entertaining whodunit from a promising new talent.“ (Publishers Weekly)
The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder * by C. L. Miller (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) exposes the dark underbelly of the antiques trade. Forty-something Freya Lockwood is at a crossroad - a divorced empty-nester about to lose her London home, when the news reaches her that her estranged mentor Arthur Crockleford has died under mysterious circumstances. Returning to the quaint village where she was raised by her Aunt Carole upon her parents’ accidental death, she finds out they are to inherit Arthur’s antique shop, thus thrusting her back into a life she had sworn to leave behind. 20 years ago Arthur was implicated in the death of Freya’s boyfriend when the two of them were investigating stolen artifacts and antique forgeries in Cairo.
“A trail of clues left by Arthur leads Freya and Carole to an old manor house filled with antiques and populated by various mysterious guests, all of them with hidden agendas and exuding varying degrees of menace. The author, daughter of Judith Miller (Miller's Antique Price Guide), draws on her own knowledge of antiques to develop the backdrop of the mystery.” (Library Journal)
For Your Listening Pleasure
The Other Half, a “crackling debut” (Publishers Weekly) by Charlotte Vassell (also in downloadable eBook) which The Guardian called “smart, pacy and good fun.”
When Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp discovered the body of Instagram influencer Clemmie O’Hara on his morning run at Hampstead Heath, attention was immediately drawn to her boyfriend Rupert Beauchamp,(no relations to the detective) heir to a baronetcy, who the evening before, threw himself a tawdry black-tie 30th birthday bash at a London McDonald's, where guests washed down their fries with champagne and cocaine.
Clemmie’s death couldn't have been more timely or convenient for Rupert who was ready to dump her for Nell Waddingham, a publishing assistant. Friends since their uni days, Nell is still traumatized by what happened to her on their recent trip to Greece, and wants nothing to do with Rupert.
“His (Caius’s) search takes him through a web of over-privileged suspects on whom the detective casts a half-contemptuous, half-envious eye, and eventually delivers him to the doorstep of a murderous, elite conspiracy.” (Publishers Weekly)
* * = 2 starred reviews
* = Starred review