Charlie and Matthew Allerton-Jones are a gay married couple raising their son Titus, who's fifteen-years-old.
Until recently, things seemed fine in the Allerton-Jones household, which has the advantage of close ties with Charlie's parents and his godmother Meryl.
Then Matthew is stabbed to death at the Allerton-Jones' dinner table, and a young woman named Rachel calls the police and admits to the murder. However, we're immediately told that she didn't do it.
To unveil what happened and why, the book skips back and forth between twelve months ago, when Charlie and Matthew met Rachel, to the present.
A year ago, Rachel was working in a Yorkshire gardening center and barely making ends meet when she happened to come across Charlie Allerton-Jones' Instagram account. The account - which featured myriad photos of Charlie, Matthew, and Titus - galvanized Rachel, who pulled up stakes, moved to London, and managed to 'accidently' meet Charlie and Matthew.
Matthew, who was a friendly sort, invited Rachel to join his book club, which met once a month in the posh home of one of the members.
Rachel grew up in difficult circumstances, could only afford an apartment in a rough area of Pimlico, and was unaccustomed to mingling with London's 'elite', but she eagerly accepted the book club invitation. Rachel then proceeded to inveigle herself into the lives of the Allerton-Jones' and their friends. Before long, Rachel was even offered a job by Charlie's godmother Meryl, who seemed to want to give the girl a boost up.
Though most people in the book club liked Rachel, something about her made Charlie uncomfortable. Thus Charlie constantly griped to Matthew about the young woman being around. However, Matthew said Charlie was just being a snob, and pooh-poohed his concerns.
As the story unfolds we learn why Rachel was drawn to the Allerton-Jones', her clandestine back story, and the secrets other people are keeping.
Toward the latter part of the book, we discover why Matthew was stabbed, the identity of the killer, and what happens after the homicide. Meanwhile, Charlie's father - who's a 'fixer' for the rich and powerful - tries to make sure his son and grandson are absolved of any blame.
The book is character driven, and the protagonists all have personality flaws. Matthew is sneaky and evasive;
Charlie is naïve and willfully blind;
Titus is irresponsible and rebellious;
and Rachel has all sorts of troubles.
The big reveal and its aftermath aren't quite credible to me. I also have trouble believing how lightning fast Rachel ascended in society under the auspices of Charlie's godmother. I simply don't think this would happen in real life.
Thus, the book is only so-so for me.
Thanks to Netgalley, B.P. Walter, and HarperCollins Publishers for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3 stars
In this book, author William Norris makes the case that the wrong man was convicted for the infamous kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.
Charles Lindbergh was a military officer, inventor, and aviator who made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris in 1927.
Charles Lindbergh
Lindbergh's daring trip made him an instant celebrity, and the aviator became an American hero who was fêted around the world.
Charles Lindbergh was famous around the world
Lindbergh then married Anne Morrow - of the immensely wealthy and powerful Morrow family - and the duo became 'the couple of the age.'
Anne Morrow
Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne became the couple of the age
In 1932, the Lindbergh's 20-month-old baby, Charles Lindbergh Jr., was kidnapped, and the incident was immediately dubbed 'the crime of the century.'
Charles Lindbergh Jr.
The abduction resulted in the arrest, conviction, and execution of German national Bruno Richard Hauptmann, but author William Norris is among the many people who believe Hauptmann was innocent.
Bruno Richard Hauptmann
According to Norris, Lindbergh, who was worshipped in the law enforcement community, was permitted to control the kidnap investigation. Thus Lindbergh destroyed evidence, withheld information, and misled the police.
Charles Lindbergh controlled the kidnap investigation
Lindbergh ostensibly did this because HE (AND HIS WIFE) KNEW the real kidnapper was Anne Morrow's illegitimate half-brother Dwight Morrow Jr., who was unacknowledged by the Morrow family. Needing money, and being denied funds by the Morrows, Dwight Jr. took the baby so he could demand a ransom. Lindbergh expected to pay the ransom and get the baby back, and he wanted to spare the Morrow family humiliation and scandal. Thus he 'covered up' the crime.
Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne purportedly knew the kidnapper was her illegitimate half-brother Dwight Morrow, Jr.
There were indeed ransom demands, and the ensuing 'negotiations' took months and involved many people, including gangsters, conmen, and self-aggrandizing narcissists. Eventually, the authorities came to suspect the kidnapping and the extortion were separate crimes.
There were many ransom notes
Throughout, Lindbergh held off the FBI (kidnapping wasn't a federal crime at that time) and demanded the police not monitor any ransom drop sites or arrest any pick-up men. (How suspicious is that!? Right?)
Sadly, the baby's body was finally discovered, and the authorities determined little Charles Jr. was dead from the beginning, probably due to an accident.
The Lindbergh baby's body was found
At this point the entire world went crazy, demanding someone pay the penalty for the horrific crime.
Enter Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who - because of an unfortunate set of circumstances - was actually in possession of some of the ransom money. Hauptmann in fact was at work at the time of the kidnapping - where many people saw him - but nefarious police and prosecutors, as well as the Lindbergh and Morrow families, conspired to falsify evidence, bribe and intimidate witnesses, suborn perjury, and so on. This, and the fact that the jury was in awe of Lindbergh, ensured that Hauptmann was executed for killing the Lindbergh baby.
Hauptmann was convicted and electrocuted for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby
There WERE righteous men, including New Jersey Governor Harold G. Hoffman, who tried to prove Hauptmann's innocence....to no avail.
New Jersey Governor Harold Hoffman believed Hauptmann was innocent
The horror of electrocuting an innocent man was heightened by the fact that Hauptmann had a loyal wife and baby, and a loving mother in Germany, all of whom were devastated by the proceedings. Mrs. Hauptmann went on trying to clear her husband's name for years, but most ears were closed to her pleas.
Mrs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann tried to exonerate her husband for years
Norris makes an excellent case for Hauptmann's innocence, and gives Lindbergh and his collaborators a huge black eye in my opinion. Moreover, Lindbergh's star has dimmed considerably since the 1930s, because he was exposed as a serial adulterer and Nazi sympathizer.
Charles Lindbergh was a Nazi sympathizer
I had heard of the Lindbergh kidnapping, but had no idea about the subsequent shenanigans. This is a well-researched, fascinating book, highly recommended to fans of true crime.
Thanks to Netgalley, William Norris, and SynergEbooks for a copy of the book.
Rating: 4 stars
This review was first posted on Mystery and Suspense. Check it out for features, interviews, and reviews. https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/pu...
Melanie Travis is a wife, mother, teacher and amateur sleuth whose nosing around has occasionally helped the police solve crimes.
Melanie, her husband Sam, their sons Davey (14) and Kev (5), and the family's six dogs (five standard poodles and a rescue pup) live in a big sprawling house in Stamford, Connecticut.
Summer break has just started, and Davey and Kev will spend their days at Graceland Nursery School Summer Camp, where Davey will be a counselor and Kev will be a camper.
Melanie has known the school's proprietor, Emily Grace, for more than a decade, and the women are friends.
On the first day of camp, Melanie drops the boys off and stops at Emily's office to say hello. Emily is frazzled and confides that her trio of Dalmatian puppies - which she'd received as a gift - escaped from their pen, ran into the road, and had to be rounded up.
That's just the beginning of trouble at the nursery school, which suffers from repeated mishaps over the next few days. Melanie and Emily suspect sabotage, but a motive seems elusive. Then the dead body of Emily's conman ex-husband, Will Grace, is found in the woods behind the school, and the police suspect Emily murdered him.
Emily asks Melanie to help clear her name, and Melanie immediately gets on the job. She speaks to the victim's brother, friends, and acquaintances, and also interviews people who might have wanted to cause trouble for Emily. This includes property developers who want to build on Emily's land and a Home Owner Association head who's been trying to get Emily to close the school for years - citing noise and traffic.
Emily has other troubles as well. The fee to lease the school property is going up, and she can't afford to pay. Melanie consults her go-getter Aunt Peg about Emily' s financial problems, and Aunt Peg - who raises dogs, shows dogs, and judges dog shows - organizes a canine-related fundraiser to help raise money.
Melanie is a prudent investigator, and when she discovers clues to Will Grace's killer, she relays them to Police Detective Sturgill, whom she's assisted in the past. This turns out to be a good move when Melanie finally confronts the perpetrator.
In between sleuthing, Melanie accompanies her family to two dog shows, where Aunt Peg's standard poodle Coral is competing. Melanie's fourteen-year-old son Davey is Coral's handler, and the poodle - who's accumulated 10 points in the show ring - needs two major wins to get a championship. The author describes Coral's grooming and comportment - as well as how dogs are judged - all of which adds an interesting and informative element to the story.
The human characters in the book are engaging, but dog lovers will savor the endearing canines, especially Melanie's black poodle Faith - who has 'conversations' with her owner.
This book is a good choice for fans of dog shows and cozy mysteries.
Thanks to Netgalley, Laurien Berenson, and Kensington Books for a review copy.
This fun series is a spin-off of David Rosenfelt's humorous 'Andy Carpenter' mystery books, set in Paterson, New Jersey. Andy is a criminal defense lawyer who's assisted by a team of private investigators called 'The K Team.' In this second K Team novel, one of the private detectives is accused of murder. The book works fine as a standalone.
*****
Andy Carpenter's wife Laurie, an ex-cop, was his law firm's private investigator until she joined the K Team, which now does Andy's detective work. The members of the K Team are Laurie;
Corey Douglas, a retired cop, and his dog Simon Garfunkel, a K-9 German shepherd who worked with Corey at the Paterson Police Department;
and Marcus Clark - the toughest, scariest guy on the planet.
The K Team is also assisted by Andy's accountant/computer hacker Sam Willis, who often uses 'extra-legal' means to get information.
As the story opens a woman named Lisa Yates is shot in the street. Former cop Corey Douglas feels guilty about Lisa's death because he thinks he let her down. As a Paterson, NJ police officer, Corey had investigated a domestic violence report at Lisa's house.
Corey was sure Lisa's boyfriend Gerald Kline hit her, but Lisa refused to press charges. Thus, other than threatening Kline, Corey was helpless to assist the injured woman.
Now that Lisa is dead, Corey is sure Kline killed her. When the police can't find evidence against Kline, Corey and the K Team decide to investigate themselves. Before long Kline is murdered as well, and Corey - who was known to have an animus towards the man - is arrested for murder.
Andy becomes Corey's defense attorney, and the K Team turns its energy toward finding the real killer.
The squad believes the same person killed Lisa and Kline, and looks for connections between the two victims. The investigators learn that Lisa did data entry work at Ardmore Medical Services, which stores medical records for use by doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, etc.
And Kline was a headhunter for medical service agencies and gave seminars about working in the medical services industry.
Thus medical services seems like a common factor in the murders, and the detectives hone in on and interview executives and employees of Ardmore Medical Services. This alarms the CEO of Ardmore (not a spoiler).....
.....and leads to additional murders, including an attempt on Corey's life.
The Paterson police and the district attorney don't believe the ongoing crime spree is connected to Kline's killing, and Corey's murder trial is put on the fast track. This chagrins and frustrates the K Team, whose investigation keeps running into dead ends.....almost like someone is manipulating them.
Rosenfelt's mysteries follow a pattern, and the reader can expect amusing banter among the characters, a huge conspiracy perpetrated by the evildoers, a trial scene where Andy shows his cleverness and mettle, and fun scenes with the dogs - including Corey's German shepherd Simon Garfunkel, and the Carpenters' golden retriever Tara and basset hound Sebastian.
The book's fun continues into the acknowledgements, where Rosenfelt thanks the many people who (allegedly) helped with his writing career. You'll probably recognize some of the names. 😃
I enjoyed this cozy mystery, and recommend it to fans of the genre.
Thanks to Netgalley, David Rosenfelt, and Minotaur books for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
