Four recent crime novels

Closed Casket

Sophie Hannah

With permission from Agatha Christie’s estate, Sophie Hannah is resurrecting Hercule Poirot, Christie’s famous detective. Here, a famous children’s book writer invites Poirot and a Scotland Yard detective to her estate to witness a shocking announcement: She’s changing her will to disinherit her children and making her assistant sole heir. The assistant dies that night. Hannah employs familiar Christie devices: isolated setting and limited number of suspects; bumbling police and clever Poirot; an ending that allows Poirot to match wits with the suspect and explain the solution. Hannah doesn’t try to update Christie by adding foul language or sexually graphic plots.

Prayers the Devil Answers

Sharyn McCrumb

In this folklore-steeped, Depression-era story, childhood sweethearts move away from their mountain home. The husband rises to become a respected sheriff, then dies of pneumonia. His widow Ellie gets his job, which puts her in charge when a murder occurs in their little town. Many people question whether a woman can appropriately supervise an execution. McCrumb knits together backstories, reveals betrayals, and ends the story with an act of revenge. The prayers of the title: “When you asked for something and your wish was granted in such a way that it did you no good at all.”

That Darkness

Lisa Black

Lisa Black sets many of her crime stories in downtown Cleveland, incorporating the city’s history and architecture into her plots. In this novel, forensic investigator Maggie Gardiner uses fiber evidence to connect crimes that don’t appear connected. Her careful attention to detail comes to the attention of one police detective, who has reason to worry. Black explicitly ponders the morality of vigilante justice: What does justice look like when the system allows very bad guys to kill, and kill again? The novel offers compelling characters and a page-turning story that isn’t graphic in violence or language.

Fire in the Stars

Barbara Fradkin

Canadian mystery novelist Fradkin begins a new series set in different parts of Canada. The first book takes place in the wilds of Newfoundland, where aid worker Amanda Doucette aims to meet up with colleague Phil Cousins. Both suffer from PTSD after seeing atrocities at the hand of Boko Haram in Nigeria. But an increasingly erratic Cousins has disappeared with his 10-year-old son, and Doucette begins a dangerous search for him. With some R-rated language, this thriller introduces readers to the remote North and brings the issue of refugees and human trafficking to North America.

Afterword

Alistair Begg’s Christmas Playlist (The Good Book, 2016) uses four Christmas songs—Mary’s, Zechariah’s, the angels’, and Simeon’s—to tell the Christmas story. Begg draws from Luke’s Gospel to show that Jesus is the Son of God and why that’s wonderful news. Written in an accessible style, this short volume is a perfect introduction to the gospel.

Tim Keller’s Hidden Christmas (Viking, 2016) upends both sentimental religious celebrations of Christmas and secular, materialistic ones. He draws out the surprises and hidden treasures in the familiar stories. In one chapter he shows how “the gospel turns the world’s values upside down” by including in Matthew’s genealogy “moral outsiders—adulterers, adulteresses, incestuous relationships, prostitutes.” In another, he writes on the importance of the incarnation, which provides comfort in suffering. Keller drew on years of preaching on the various texts when he wrote this rich volume. —S.O.