The Magic Chair Murder

January 29, 2018
Frances Black, the 28-year-old heroine of this so-so series launch set in 1929 Lancashire from British author Janes (Stick or Twist), has joined a literary society dedicated to the life and works of children’s poet Robert Barnaby as a way to pass the time after her husband left her for another woman. Divorce is out of the question for the well-brought-up Fran, who has a private income, as it would bring shame on her family. At the society’s annual conference, one of the speakers, Linda Dexter, goes missing. A few days later her body is discovered on a little-used railway line. Fran decides to do a little sleuthing, aided by her friend Mo and handsome fellow Barnaby fan Tom Dod. Could Linda’s death be connected to the paper she was going to deliver at the conference? That Fran lives alone without her husband causes her no social repercussions, and the “no divorce” premise serves mainly as a device to keep Fran and Tom apart. Period language is scarce, and clues are too obvious. Hopefully, Janes will up her game next time.

Starred review from October 24, 2016
British author Janes (Swimming in the Shadows) strikes the perfect balance between gore and sappiness in this satisfyingly sweet police procedural. Det. Constable Peter Betts and Det. Sgt. Hannah McMahon make a more-than-professional connection while reexamining the cold case kidnapping of heiress Jude Thackeray, whose unknown captor let her get away. Jude has since become romantically involved with Mark Medlicott, who tries to help her through the aftershocks of her past trauma, though his motives for doing so may not be the purest. Meanwhile, a loner named Stefan makes disturbing plans on an isolated beach in Cornwall. The bold pairing of the good-natured secret relationship between Peter and Hannah and the sordid romantic intrigue involving Mark and Jude raises readers’ interest in both. Janes deftly, suddenly transforms her audience’s understanding of her protagonists several times without making delayed disclosures feel like literary trickery, keeping tension high to the very end.

November 1, 2016
When police detectives Peter Betts and Hannah McMahon are asked to reinvestigate the never-solved case of Jude Thackeray, they have no idea that what they find will lead them into both personal and professional crises. Jude was kidnapped by her then-boyfriend, physically assaulted, and then taken to the woods to be killed. Although Jude managed to escape, her would-be killer was never found. All of the information Jude offered about her boyfriend captor led to dead ends. After many months, Jude has managed to recover sufficiently and has a new boyfriend, who treats her with kindness and patience. But as Peter and Hannah work on what is now a very cold case, they find that nothing is as it seemed. In a series of ever-more-shocking revelations, the bizarre story is finally revealed. An edge-of-the-seat, keep-'em-guessing murder case with mind-blowing twists, an imaginative plot, plenty of suspense, brave heroes, and truly dastardly villains.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2018
Casting around for something to distract her after her husband left her for another woman, Fran Black joins the Robert Barnaby Society, which celebrates a notable British children's poet. It's 1929 in rural England, and the meetings give Fran a chance to meet new people. But at the annual conference, Linda Dexter, who is supposed to speak to the group, fails to appear. The members are horrified later when Linda's body is found beside a railroad track. The police rule her death a suicide, but Fran isn't so sure. Why would Linda have chosen such an isolated location, where the trains only run sporadically? Why was her burnt-out car found miles from the death scene? And what was her motive? She was attractive, wealthy, and had just completed a fascinating paper on Barnaby. Fran teams up with Tom Dod, another society member, to launch their own investigation. After a slow start, the narrative quickly takes off with unexpected twists, well-drawn period ambience, a cast of agreeable poetry buffs, and a satisfyingly tricky plot.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)