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Front Page Teaser: A Liz Higgins Mystery
This Boston-based mystery stars smart and sassy Beantown Banner reporter Liz Higgins, who rails at being assigned only light news highlighted in front page teasers. She vows to change that by finding a missing mom and nailing front-page news in the process. Liz's quest takes her into Boston's lively Irish pub/Celtic music scene, the elegant Wellesley landscape, and as far as Fiji. Along the way, she courageously pursues a tangle of clues and falls for two very different men: the enigmatic forensics expert Dr. Cormack Kinnaird and the warmhearted Tom Horton, who pastes ads on the huge billboard that dwarfs Liz's tiny house on the edge of the Mass Pike.
- GenresMystery
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 16, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 27, 2024
Although much of the content was good, the romances were awkward and solving the mystery read like an odd story inserted within the story.
July 30, 2011
Front Page Teaser (Down East Books 2010) introduces Liz Higgins, a reporter for The Beantown Banner, a tabloid in Boston, Massachusetts. Liz longs to be a hard news reporter, but is assigned to features like rating seven mall Santas by 8-year-old Veronica Johansson. It’s late December 2000, and while Liz is covering the mayor’s attempt to connect to Jewish voters at Christmastime, Veronica runs from her nearby house screaming that her kitchen is covered with blood. Liz and a policeman, who believes Liz is a family friend, take Veronica home and discover that Veronica’s mother Ellen is missing. While the police investigate the bloody kitchen, Liz calms Veronica down by taking notes on her memories of her mother in recent days. Veronica tells Liz that her mother was excited about her recent visit to New York City, where she met an Israeli pen pan from childhood for lunch at the Windows on the World restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center. Liz promises Veronica she will find her mother, and follows the advice of author Mary Higgins Clark to look for the domestic details the police might miss. With the help of a Banner photographer and Dr. Cormac Kinnaird, a forensic pathologist and wannabe banjo player, Liz pursues the story of the missing housewife and her dream of finally making the front page of the paper. A puzzling list of Ellen’s library books suggests that Ellen may have left voluntarily, but Liz can’t believe she would have deserted her daughter. Then a taxi receipt leads to a New York City taxi driver of middle eastern extraction, who went missing around the same time as Ellen. The looming date of 9/11 adds tension to this entertaining debut mystery.
Rosemary Herbert page at SYKM
Rosemary Herbert page at SYKM
June 5, 2013
this was an immensely satisfying read. Not only could I hardly stand to put it down, but once finished, I can't stop thinking about it.
Set in the year before the 9/11 attacks, Liz Higgins is a reporter for a newspaper in Boston, MA. Eager to make the jump from feature writing to front page news writing, she sees her opportunity when she begins to investigate a baffling missing mom case, a woman she was acquainted with. The trail leads her around Boston, to New York City and even overseas. Liz persistently tracks down every lead until she uncovers the truth.
The story is tightly woven, with lots of twists, turns and red herrings to keep you on your toes. The locations helped put you right in the scene and were easy to picture. The characters had just enough detail to be likeable and the subtle love triangle was not overdone. This book also avoided one of my biggest pet peeves; no overbearing characters who were annoying to the point of distraction. No, the focus of this book was predominately on the plot, something that I appreciated. The dialogue was more or less believable, although was a little stilted at some points. However, this is a minor point and barely worth mentioning.
Enough with this review, go out and get the book! You won't be diappointed!
Set in the year before the 9/11 attacks, Liz Higgins is a reporter for a newspaper in Boston, MA. Eager to make the jump from feature writing to front page news writing, she sees her opportunity when she begins to investigate a baffling missing mom case, a woman she was acquainted with. The trail leads her around Boston, to New York City and even overseas. Liz persistently tracks down every lead until she uncovers the truth.
The story is tightly woven, with lots of twists, turns and red herrings to keep you on your toes. The locations helped put you right in the scene and were easy to picture. The characters had just enough detail to be likeable and the subtle love triangle was not overdone. This book also avoided one of my biggest pet peeves; no overbearing characters who were annoying to the point of distraction. No, the focus of this book was predominately on the plot, something that I appreciated. The dialogue was more or less believable, although was a little stilted at some points. However, this is a minor point and barely worth mentioning.
Enough with this review, go out and get the book! You won't be diappointed!
December 26, 2010
Liz Higgins is frustrated writing soft news for the tabloid Boston Banner in 2000. She gets her big chance when a perfect suburban wife and librarian, Ellen, disappears from her blood-spattered home. Liz and met, and liked, Ellen when she was working on a story about Ellen's adorable daughter Veronica. Now Liz is first on the scene and trusted, to a limited extent, by the shocked and grieving family. At the same time, Liz's usually bleak social lie is enlivened by interest from two men, one a casual friend who changes the billboards above her tiny house, the other a forensic scientist who gets involved in the case. There's a mysterious friend of Ellen's who may hold clues to the disappearance, but she can't be found either. As the weeks turn into months, the reader is aware that we are approaching an ominous date. Could Ellen's disappearance have a connection with terrorism?
February 19, 2011
The setting was certainly fun (Boston/Wellesley, etc).
Author was a journalist as is protagonist, so interesting inside look at that life, albeit in the '90's/early 2000's.
By the end, the pieces of the puzzle to the mystery tired me out! Would recommend with reservations.
Author was a journalist as is protagonist, so interesting inside look at that life, albeit in the '90's/early 2000's.
By the end, the pieces of the puzzle to the mystery tired me out! Would recommend with reservations.
January 4, 2015
Good mystery concept. The romantic attempts were weak at best but the basic mystery premise was interesting. It was a bit strange to be an involved part of every step of the mystery through Liz's reporting but then thrown a total curveball for the resolution?
July 23, 2010
Read 8 pages and moved on.
October 17, 2010
The author had a good idea for a plot and a fun character for a cozy mystery series. At some point, she went off course and the ending was really bad.
October 9, 2011
I enjoyed the suburban Boston setting and amateur protagonist, but found so many aspects of the story from the mystery to the romance very unlikely.
December 19, 2011
I'll try another. Good read, but nothing out of the ordinary.
February 8, 2012
I love me a good mystery every now and then, and this certainly fit the bill.
September 27, 2012
I enjoyed it, however, the end was a disappointment.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews