FOUR THOUSAND DAYS
at a series of killings she’d worked on before. Unit head Eddie Mahler is still struggling with migraines and trying dating apps, which aren’t working any better than you’d expect. When the team starts looking into Behrens’ disappearance, they learn that he took a disposable phone with him and that the phone he left behind contains Google searches for sexual assault, molestation, and Child Protective Services. There’s a letter of resignation on his laptop. The team members use their diverse skills to search for Behrens and figure out the reason for his disappearance. When they find him shot dead in his car, the big question is: suicide or murder? Behrens’ love of literature ruled his life, and his students adored him. The clues to his death will be found in his life and his relations with others. An excellent police procedural raised to a higher level by the in-depth look at the lives of the people who work the crimes.
Trow, M.J. Severn House (224 pp.) $28.99 | Feb. 1, 2022 978-1-78029-134-5
Trow, who’s already featured Christopher Marlowe as a sleuth in Black Death (2019), introduces an appealing new detective based on turn-of-the-20thcentury archaeologist Margaret Murray. Although she’s seen plenty of ancient bones, the death of one of her students at University College London forces Dr. Murray to take an interest in a modern murder. There are very few women at UCL, but the public lectures given for free every Friday attract all sorts of people, including Helen Richardson and Constable Adam Crawford, who recognizes Helen from archaeology lectures when her naked body is found in a dingy apartment. People at the college believed Helen to be a telephonist, but apparently she had a sideline in prostitution. Crawford’s superior is quite sure she committed suicide, but Crawford, who thinks she may have been murdered, goes to Dr. Murray for help. His innocuous request sets off a chain of events that leads to several more deaths and the uncovering of secrets that members of the faculty and student body have been determined to hide. Some of the clever women attending the college, including Angela Friend, who’s developing a romantic relationship with Crawford, also call on Dr. Murray to investigate. After she gets nowhere with the local police, a chance meeting with retired Inspector Reid of Scotland Yard puts her on the trail of another female archaeologist who may have made an astonishing discovery before she turned up dead. All Dr. Murray needs is to discover the motive of a cleverly hidden killer. Plenty of suspects, red herrings, and period detail make this a promising launch.
science fiction and fantasy ENGINES OF EMPIRE
Ford, R.S. Orbit (624 pp.) $17.99 paper | Jan. 18, 2022 978-0-316-62956-0
The first installment of Ford’s Age of Uprising saga is unadulterated epic fantasy set in an aetherpunk realm where the mining and innovative utilization of magic-powered pyrestones have made the nation of Torwyn a virtual empire of
THE DAY HE LEFT
industry. The guilds rule Torwyn—and have for generations. Although newly crowned Emperor Sullivar reigns over the realm, it’s the various guilds that are the lifeblood of the nation—controlling the military, transit, mining, farming, etc. But when an emissary from Malador—a country that has been enemies with Torwyn for thousands of years—attending Sullivar’s coronation and with a potential peace treaty in the balance is assassinated and Fulren, Sullivar’s young nephew, is falsely accused and essentially sentenced to death by being sent to Malador for punishment, Fulren’s mother, Rosomon Hawkspur, realizes treachery is afoot. As fanatics from the Draconate Ministry, Torwyn’s ecclesiastic power, begin a masterfully planned coup, Rosomon and her children—who are scattered throughout the realm— attempt to stop the rebellion. Conall, a captain in the military, is stationed at a remote outpost; Tyreta, Rosomon’s responsibility-shirking daughter, is visiting mining operations in the wild Sundered Isles; and Fulren, now a prisoner in an enemy land,
Weisel, Frederick Poisoned Pen (384 pp.) $16.99 paper | Feb. 8, 2022 978-1-4642-1421-9 After a schoolteacher walks out the door and vanishes, the Santa Rosa Violent Crime team finds his disappearance is related to several crimes. Paul Behrens is a dedicated English teacher whose relationship with his wife, Annie, has hit a new low. The two seldom spend time together or know what’s going on in the lives of their teenage children: Jesse is dealing pot, and Claire is being blackmailed by middle school mean girls. Annie’s work as a night nurse has led to her affair with a doctor. Meanwhile, the Violent Crime team is scattered, with Frames on loan to Narcotics and Eden Somers, a former FBI analyst, called back to the bureau to take a look 164
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1 december 2021
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fiction
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kirkus.com
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