Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This light and lively series launch from de Castrique (the Blackman Agency investigations) introduces 75-year-old Ethel Fiona Crestwater, a retired FBI agent who remains a legend among her former colleagues for her "myriad connections in both the Secret Service and the FBI, and a maestro's skill to play those connections to her advantage." Her comfortable Arlington, Va., home is affectionately referred to as "Ethel's dormitory" by the government agents who have rented rooms from her over the years. When one roomer, Secret Service agent Jonathan Finch, is shot in front of her house, the feisty landlady steps into the role of action hero to find Finch's killer and discover the reasons for his death. She's assisted by Jesse Cooper, her double first cousin twice removed, who's also staying with her while attending the American University in Washington, D.C., as well as former boarders Cory Bradshaw, head of the Secret Service, and Arlington police detective Frank Mancini. Petite but plucky Ethel is an elderly Nancy Drew: sure of herself and her convictions, and ready to bend a few rules to achieve her goal of seeing justice done. She's off to a fine start. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
When grad student Jesse Cooper hears gunshots, he discovers a fellow boarder, Jonathan Finch, dead in the street. Jesse worries when his 75-year-old landlady and distant cousin, Ethel Crestwater, comes out. He's shocked though, when she tells him she called 911, but she wants him to film the crime scene while she investigates for evidence before the police arrive. Then she hides Finch's gym bag in the basement. Jesse knows Ethel's boarders, including Finch, were Secret Service and FBI. A former FBI agent herself, she has secrets. When Jesse is hit over the head, and the gym bag full of money is stolen, Ethel tells Jesse they can only trust each other. Following another death, Ethel points investigators in the right direction. She'll use all of her skills and wits, along with Jesse's knowledge of economics, to track down a killer hidden in plain sight. VERDICT Add another wise, experienced senior sleuth to a group that includes Richard Osman's "Thursday Murder Club" series and even Miss Marple. De Castrique's ("Blackman Agency Investigations" series) quirky characters and offbeat twists will appeal to Osman's readers.--Lesa Holstine
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Multiple shady characters spring into action when a Secret Service agent is murdered. Jonathan Finch is shot dead just outside the Crystal City apartments in Arlington, Virginia, while in the middle of an apparently felonious exchange involving cash and a satchel. Tenant Jesse Cooper, a student at nearby American University, cradles the dying Jonathan and hears his final words: "Tell Ethel the secret." When she learns of the shooting, Crystal City landlady Ethel Fiona Crestwater immediately calls Cory Bradshaw, the head of the Secret Service, with the news that he's lost an agent. One of the chief delights of de Castrique's loopy crime yarn is that Ethel isn't the frail, distracted septuagenarian she pretends to be but a whip-smart operator preeminent among the title characters. Det. Frank Mancini of the Arlington Police Department, who knows Ethel well, decides to investigate further with her and Bradshaw while trying to keep Jesse in the dark. Ethel does, however, give Jesse a gun for protection. Trevor Norwood, the man who killed Finch, is meanwhile plotting his own revenge. When FBI Director Rudy Hauser learns the identity of the dead man, he remembers him as "the key to twenty million dollars." Bradshaw's visit to Finch's widow, Susan, muddies the water even further when she speculates that her husband may have committed suicide. An attack on Jesse brings FBI special agent Lisa Draper, yet another secretive soul, into the mix to begin her own investigation. De Castrique's uber-twisty narrative strains credibility but consistently entertains. A taut and crisply told thriller whose charmingly shady protagonist triumphs over a labyrinthine plot. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
