annieb123's Review of Murder Crossed Her Mind (A Pentecost and Parker Mystery, #4)

by Stephen Spotswood

The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • The latest action-packed installment in the Nero Award–winning Pentecost & Parker Mystery series follows Lillian and Will tracking the suspicious disappearance of a woman who might have known too much. From the author of Fortune Favors the Dead and Murder Under Her Skin.

Vera Bodine, an elderly shut-in with an exceptional memory, has gone missing and famed detective Lillian Pentecost and her crackerjack assistant Willowjean “Will” Parker have been hired to track her down. But the New York City of 1947 can be a dangerous place, and there’s no shortage of people who might like to get ahold of what’s in Bodine’s head.

Does her disappearance have to do with the high-profile law firm whose secrets she still keeps; the violent murder of a young woman, with which Bodine had lately become obsessed; or is it the work she did with the FBI hunting Nazi spies intent on wartime sabotage? Any and all are on the suspect list, including their client, Forest Whitsun, hotshot defense attorney and no friend to Pentecost and Parker.

The clock is ticking to get Bodine back alive, but circumstances conspire to pull both investigators away from the case. Will is hot on the trail of a stickup team who are using her name—and maybe her gun—for their own ends. While Lillian again finds herself up against murder-obsessed millionaire Jessup Quincannon, who has discovered a secret from her past—something he plans to use to either rein the great detective in . . . or destroy her.

To solve this mystery, and defeat their own personal demons, the pair will have to go nose-to-nose with murderous gangsters, make deals with conniving federal agents, confront Nazi spies, and bend their own ethical rules to the point of breaking. Before time runs out for everyone.

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Murder Crossed Her Mind is the 4th Pentecost & Parker PI mystery by Stephen Spotswood. Released 5th Dec 2023 by Doubleday, it's 384 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is a historical PI mystery set in NYC in the immediate aftermath of WW2. An elderly woman with an eidetic memory goes missing and Pentecost & Parker are called in to locate her. There are several intertwining plotlines and the author does a remarkably good job of keeping them straight, braiding them together, and twisting the denouement into a satisfying pretzel of a solution.

The characters are appealing (or deviously despicable), well rendered, and believable. It's not derivative at all, but the setup is very much reminiscent of Stout's inimitable Nero Wolfe mysteries. Investigations office is located in a NYC brownstone with a brilliant and crafty investigative mind, assisted by a practical strong-arm gumshoe (who narrates the stories). There's even an irascible cook/factotum. The twist is that all of them are female in this case, and Lillian Pentecost is limited by an illness, not her size. There are, however, no orchids.

There are significant relationship elements included which are LGBTQIA+ friendly/non-judgemental. The sexism and homophobia of the era are included and graphic in some scenes and could be distressing. The violence isn't superfluous to the plot, but it is present.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours 11 minutes and is expertly read by Kirsten Potter. She has a well trained classical delivery and manages the voices (with accents from Bronx to Scottish brogue) clearly and well. Her timing is excellent and she delineates the characters clearly. Listeners won't have trouble keeping them straight. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Reading updates

31 July, 2024: Started reading

31 July, 2024: Finished reading

31 July, 2024: Reviewed