Review by Booklist Review
Reference librarian and amateur sleuth Greer Hogan has left Raven Hill for New York City to catalog a famous magician's personal collection while secretly investigating the murder of her husband, Dan. Greer is convinced the wrong person was convicted, but she'll need to use her honed investigative skills to find out for sure. She examines Dan's belongings and interviews former colleagues and those who spoke with Dan before he died. Suddenly, Greer is followed and attacked, and more people are dead; Greer has pushed someone's buttons. Hilliard's (Three Can Keep a Secret, 2023) fourth book in the Greer Hogan series is the most exciting and intense installment yet. Greer is an amateur yet seasoned detective whose skills serve her well as she navigates life outside of Raven Hill. The colorful characters that help Greer along the way add a layer of depth and will please readers. Recommended for series fans and all those who enjoy cozy mysteries featuring amateur sleuths, such as Elly Griffith's Harbinder Kaur novels or Holly Danver's Lakeside Library mysteries.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Greer Hogan's work at the Raven Hill Public Library in the Hudson River Valley is on hold after a fire at the library, so she has a temporary job cataloguing the contents of the Archive of Illusionists and Conjurers. The work brings Greer back to Manhattan, where her husband, Danny, was murdered four years earlier. She's always believed the man imprisoned for the crime, who says Danny was unconscious but alive when he left him. She now has the chance to ask questions at New Leaf, where Danny worked when he was killed. After she questions the management team, she's followed. Then someone breaks into the archives and into Greer's parents' house, where they leave a man dead. Greer is even more convinced that New Leaf holds the key to Danny's murder. With the help of a magician named Grim and a small group of friends, Greer sets several traps to catch a killer. VERDICT After four books, the story arc Hilliard began in The Unkindness of Ravens is resolved, with hints of a new mystery to come. Fans of TV's Only Murders in the Building might appreciate this series, though they should start with the first installment.--Lesa Holstine
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Four years and three volumes after her husband's murder, librarian Greer Hogan finally gets a crack at laying it to rest. Members of the NYPD are satisfied that New Leaf financial officer Daniel Sullivan was fatally beaten during a botched robbery by boxer/deliveryman Pete Perry, who was convicted long ago even though he insisted that he left Dan unconscious but alive. When attorney April Benson, deprived of the opportunity to finalize her divorce from New Leaf corporate counsel Frank Benson by his sudden death, tells Greer that she suspects murder and provides Greer with some arcane printouts that neither of them can make sense of, Greer instantly decides that the same motive and the same culprit were responsible for both deaths. Moving back temporarily to New York from her refuge in upstate Raven Hill, Greer uses her finely honed professional skills to search for anyone connected to New Leaf, a CBD company branching out into cannabis, who might have wanted both men dead. Though she gets precious little intelligence from CEO Clarice Philips and COO William Warren, her old neighbors provide unobtrusive details that bolster her case. In more substantial roles, so do Joseph Grimaldi, a magician who jumps in with both feet, and Carolyn Quinn, the great-aunt of Dan's former assistant, math whiz Isabelle Peterson. Despite another break-in and two new fatalities, the prevailing tone is so blandly civilized that Greer confesses, "If I hadn't been investigating my husband's murder, I'd have been enjoying myself." Though the mystery could've used more surprises, it's nice to see the heroine get the closure readers will have seen coming. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
