Publishers Weekly
10/09/2023
Spotswood’s spotty fourth outing for private detectives Willowjean “Will” Parker and Lillian Pentecost (after 2022’s Secrets Typed in Blood) buries the pair in an avalanche of inquiries and incidents. In the fall of 1947, New York City defense attorney Forest Whitsun calls on Pentecost and Parker to track down his friend, Vera Bodine, a retired secretary in her late 70s. Soon, Will and Lillian learn that Vera’s age and occupation belie her colorful—and dangerous—life, which could have gathered her all manner of enemies. Her disappearance might be linked to her obsession with a string of recent murders, for instance, or perhaps to her time assisting the FBI in tracking down Nazis. Meanwhile, Will is targeted by a group of small-time crooks who’ve stolen her identity, and Lillian’s multiple sclerosis worsens while she’s blackmailed by an old nemesis. Will’s Archie Goodwin-style wisecracking is likely to keep readers amused, but Spotswood overstuffs the plot and delivers a limp resolution to the main mystery. This one’s for diehard fans only. Agent: Darley Anderson, Darley Anderson Literary. (Dec.)
From the Publisher
Faithful column readers know how much I adore Stephen Spotswood’s Pentecost and Parker series, and sometimes I feel . . . like a broken record recommending these books, set in post-World War II New York City, to anybody and everybody. I swore I was going to let this new installment pass without comment, but when it’s just as good as the last three, how could I. . . There’s a cliffhanger ending, which I shan’t spoil, but which raises my hopes very high for installment No. 5.” —Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review
“A worthy addition to a superb series. It is deftly plotted and expertly paced. The scrapes and skirmishes provide thrills, with moments of genuine tension. . . Bring on this pair's next magical mystery.” —The Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Christie-like . . . A superb retro noir that summons another unlikely brownstone duo, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin."
—Booklist
“Spotswood’s newest sojourn with Parker & Pentecost won me over from the first page . . . It’s fast-paced with first-rate, humanly-flawed protagonists, lots of action right up to the last page, and interconnected side stories: a compelling read, which spirits readers into 1947 New York with ease. I’m eager for the next book and strongly recommend this one.”
—Historical Novel Society
"Will is . . . the Archie Goodwin to Lillian’s Nero Wolfe . . . The feel is very much of the period in terms of lexicon, fashion and all the other minutiae that make for authentic storytelling. . . Will and Lillian . . . have different perspectives on life as hard-boiled detectives in the 1940s than their forebears in the genre."
—BookPage
Praise for the Pentecost & Parker Mysteries
“Razor-sharp style, tons of flair, a snappy sense of humor, and all the most satisfying elements of a really good noir novel.”
—Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of The Searcher
“A delight . . . it’s a pleasure to watch [Pentecost and Parker] sifting through red herrings and peeling secrets back like layers of an onion. . . Just like his mystery-writing ancestor [Rex Stout], Spotswood understands that the detective story should be sound, but spending time with unforgettable characters is paramount.”
—New York Times Book Review
“My new favorite sleuthing duo are Pentecost and Parker, the spiritual sisters of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin . . . Utterly brilliant!”
–Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of a Certain Age
“Stephen Spotswood hard-boils with the best of ‘em!”
–Alan Bradley, bestselling author of the Flavia de Luce Mystery Series
DECEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
Series narrator Kirsten Potter does her usual exceptional work in the fourth mystery in the Pentecost & Parker series. In 1947 Manhattan, Vera Bodine has gone missing. She's elderly, and an invalid now. But the fact that she once had a photographic memory and that her early life was fraught with enemies might be connected to her disappearance. As Willowjean "Will" Parker, Potter is appropriately wisecracking and sharp-tongued. Potter's elegant and authoritative portrayal of Lillian Pentecost, Will's boss, befits the woman who is thought to be New York City's greatest detective. Secrets, betrayals, murder, and Nazi-hunting are all crammed (perhaps a little too tightly?) into this episode. But Potter's spot-on performance makes this adventure of the intelligent, introspective, insightful detecting duo worth a listen. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-09-09
An old enemy offers everything but an apology to get Brooklyn private eye Lillian Pentecost to track down a sharp old lady missing from the apartment building she turns out to own.
Before she retired in 1941, Perseverance “Vera” Bodine wasn’t just any legal secretary. Her photographic memory made her a highly prized employee at Boekbinder and Gimbal. Now Forest Whitsun, the high-powered defense attorney who left Lillian bloody but unbowed when they crossed swords in court, entreats her to find out what’s happened to his friend Vera, who’s sharp as ever even though she’s pushing 80. Whitsun’s greatest fear is that Vera’s post-legal work as a Nazi hunter has exposed her to enemies who’d stop at nothing even though the war’s been over for two years. Since the case involves a vulnerable woman, Lillian signs on despite her worsening multiple sclerosis, as if she already knows that the greatest dangers will await her right-hand woman (and the novel’s narrator), Willowjean Parker, who begins by getting beaten with her own blackjack by a pair of Coney Island thieves and then gets into even bigger trouble when she traces the culprits to a mob run by the menacing Donny Russo. In his detecting duo’s fourth adventure, Spotswood dials down Lillian’s saltiness and the period details. And this time around he’s even less interested than usual in the big reveal; the different strands of Will’s investigations never come together satisfactorily, and the person behind Vera’s disappearance is an unforgivably minor character.
What remains is the pungent first-person narration. Is that enough? You decide.
