I’m reviewing Stephen Spotswood’s faux-Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin novels, Murder Crossed Her Mind (2023) and Dead in the Frame (2025) because (MINOR SPOILER: Spotswood ends Murder Crossed Her Mind with a cliffhanger).
Defense Attorney Forest Whitsun, hires Pentecost and Parker to find his former associate, Vera Bodine, who worked as a secretary for a law firm. Vera Bodine had a photographic memory that made her invaluable to the lawyers in the law firm where Witsun once worked. Whitsun and Bodine became friends and when Bodine retired, Whitsun would visit her and bring her food. Later, Bodine was approached by the FBI to help them find Nazis in the New York City area during World War II.
Whitsun discovered that Vera Bodine–who rarely left her apartment–was missing. He doesn’t have time to search for her with his heavy work schedule so he hires Pentecost and Parker.
Things get complicated fast. Will Parker is ambushed under the boardwalk. Pentecost is threatened by the psychopathic millionaire, Jessup Quincannon. Some issues get solutions, some don’t. GRADE: B+
Just published Dead in the Frame picks up where Murder Crossed Her Mind ended: with the arrest of Lillian Pentecost. Pentecost is sent to the New York Women’s House of Detention–a brutal prison–while Will Parker tries to make sense of the framing of her boss.
Having read all five books in the Pentecost/Parker series, I would award MOST COMPLICATED PLOT to Dead in the Frame. There is the key murder that has put Pentecost behind bars, but then there are peripheral deaths that are part of the twisty scheme to have Lillian Pentecost convicted of murder.
Will Parker narrates much of the book, but every so often, Spotswood provides a chapter of Pentecost’s prison journal with its dismal aspects of vengeful prison guards, terrible food, and rats.
I must confess, I did not have Dead in the Frame figured out. I unravelled some of the tangled plot, but the big Reveal came as a surprise. The Pentecost/Parker mysteries have been the highlight of my 2025 reading. Don’t miss this series! GRADE: A
At the urging of a certain Sage of Tonawanda (and other critically astute readers), I read the first in the series this weekend and am eagerly looking forward to the other books in the series. Parker, in my opinion, beats Archie hands-down as a character — no small feat!
Jerry, like you, I’m a big fan of Will Parker. The Pentecost/Parker series has brightened up a dismal winter in 2025!
Sounds good, George.
Patti, I looking forward to the next book in the series!
They are good, very good. I am not reading the second review until I get the book, which is on hold. I sort of agree with Jerry. I like Will Parker a lot.
Jeff, since Will Parker narrates the books, her character is critical to the success of the series. You’re going to enjoy the complexity of DEAD IN THE FRAME!
Thanks for the pointers…and congrats on the relatively good health news!