Invitation to a Killer

September 1, 2022

In this second in a new series from the Agatha Award--winning Malliet, crime writer Augusta Hawke has agreed to ghostwrite the memoirs of ambitious Callie Morgan, who's aiming for a diplomatic posting. After a suspicious death at a dinner party thrown by Callie, Augusta organizes a writers' retreat loaded with suspects that gets tension-provokingly snowed in.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 28, 2022
Agatha winner Malliet’s entertaining sequel to 2022’s Augusta Hawke opens at a book signing in Alexandria, Va., where mystery writer Augusta Hawke is surprised to be approached by Callie Moore, an influential D.C. lobbyist’s wife. Callie asks Augusta to ghostwrite her memoirs, which she promises will be filled with “scandals that will rip this city—and the world!—wide open.” When Augusta declines the offer, Callie counters with an invitation to one of her “Instagram-worthy dinner parties” and the chance to meet prominent literary agent Rem Larssen. Augusta accepts and finds herself in the company of former CIA agents, a congressman and his long-suffering wife, a famous media consultant, and a plastic surgeon to the stars, all of whom seem to be writing a memoir or a novel. As Augusta says, “all these writer manqués in one room could only lead to trouble.” Indeed, a guest dies, and Augusta is soon on the trail of a cunning killer. Along with a fair play mystery, readers are treated to some wry observations on politics and publishing (“Saying Rem Larsson is your literary agent is like saying the Pope is your religious confessor”). Fans of witty female amateur sleuths should pick this up. Agent: Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media Group.

December 15, 2022
Virginia mystery writer Augusta Hawke reluctantly accepts an invitation to a dinner that might have been designed specifically to make her wish she'd stayed home. Calypso Moore, one of the few people to come to Augusta's latest book signing, is looking for a ghostwriter for the memoir she plans. Augusta couldn't be less interested, but she still has questions. Why does Callie want to write, or not write, a memoir? And what does she have to say that anybody would want to read? The answers--Callie's tired of living in the shadow of Tommy, her lobbyist husband, and intends to bolster her campaign to be appointed ambassador to Mandrekka by publishing a high-profile book, and she's got lots of juicy stories to share, like the one about her Aunt Davinia's fling with Prince Charles (as he was then known)--intrigue her just enough to take Callie up on her invitation to a dinner whose guests include high-powered D.C. literary agent Rem Larsson, celebrity surgeon David Burke, sought-after one-name stylist Montana, CIA agent Felicity Overstone and her invisible husband, Fred, and disgraced congressman Carnegie Hilton and his wife, Mary. Before the evening is over, Doc Burke will have died of a heart attack that will fool virtually every character in the book and absolutely no readers. When Augusta finally decides that he was probably poisoned, it's too late to prove it, and she can only hunt down his estranged wife in Sierra Leone, ask questions about the car accident that killed his fiancee many years ago, and hope that one of the many guilty-looking suspects actually turns out to be guilty. Eventually one of them does, and no, it's not the one you thought. Flaming piffle, like the baked Alaska that provides a distraction from the poisoning.

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February 1, 2023
The second in the Augusta Hawke series gives a deep bow to fictional mystery writer Jessica Fletcher of Murder, She Wrote and to the real-life doyenne of the genre, Agatha Christie. The first bow is nicely executed, with protagonist Hawke moving dexterously from plotting fictional mysteries to solving real ones. The second bow is a bit arthritic, as Malliet stages yet another "one of you is the murderer" scene at mystery's end. Still, amateur sleuth Hawke is engaging and humorous. She narrates the story (except for a brief and somewhat bewildering switch to an omniscient narrator), filling the reader in on the vagaries of publishing and giving quick, incisive character sketches. Hawke is invited to a dinner party of DC power brokers. One of them, a doctor who travels the world giving the impoverished life-changing facial surgeries, is found dead shortly after dessert. Natural causes or murder? With the investigation stalled, Hawke decides to host a writer's retreat, assembling all the suspects at a lodge in the Shenandoah Mountains. An enjoyable mystery for those who don't mind an occasionally sputtering plot.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2023

In Malliet's second Augusta Hawke mystery, Augusta is approached by Callie Moore, who wants Augusta to ghostwrite her memoir so she can strengthen her chances at an ambassadorship. Augusta hesitates, but accepts an invitation to a dinner party at Callie's. There she meets a pair of former spies, a congressman and his wife, a literary agent, a former reality TV star, and a doctor known for his work with the poor. After dessert, Augusta finds the doctor sitting outside in the dark--dead. Though the cause of death is declared a heart attack, Augusta can't rid herself of the feeling that it was murder. Several months later, to test her theory, Augusta gathers all the dinner guests, allegedly for a writers' retreat at a remote lodge. With the help of the doctor's niece, she interrogates each of the suspects in an Agatha Christie-style finale to get to the truth about the doctor's death. VERDICT In this sequel to Augusta Hawke, Augusta is further developed and comes into her own as an investigator, though it could have used more scenes with her friend Misaki Jones and with Detective Steve Narduzzi. For Malliet fans.--Jean King

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.