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Reviewed by Priya Mathew for Readers' Favorite
Hook, Line, and Murder by GG Calpo opens when an ordinary spring morning in Whitman's Port turns grotesque in an instant. A fisherman's line pulls in a severed human hand. Meg Brightbook, a retired kindergarten teacher, recognizes the diamond-encrusted signet ring on the hand as belonging to Brianna Townsend. Meg also recognizes the detective in charge of the case, Jonathan Storm, as the same man she holds responsible for letting the killer of her husband and son walk free a year ago. Meg and her band of retired friends decide to begin their own inquiry into Brie's life. The more they dig, the more secrets they uncover, and the more entangled they get. Will they be able to get to the truth that someone wants to stay buried?
Hook, Line, and Murder by GG Calpo is the first in the Sweet Tooth Murder Mystery Series. You can feel the snap and crackle of life in the dialogues. Between Meg and her friends, there is a sharp, layered familiarity that you get when you spend time with people who have known each other far too long to bother being polite. Meg is the engine of this story. She is shaped by grief and love in equal measure. I could feel the quiet anger in her, the need for resolution that went beyond this single case. Her friends Barbara and Liz provide the contrast; one grounded and sharp, the other curious and full of energy. Stefan is the glue holding them all together. Every character, including Cannoli the corgi, Meg's grandson Archer, and daughter-in-law Dora, adds to the bouquet. The pace doesn't flag. If anything, I felt Calpo expected me to keep up. The clues are layered carefully. Brie is not introduced as a sympathetic victim — she is depicted as a bully turned blackmailer — but Calpo refuses to let that excuse the violence done to her. Readers who enjoy Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club will find much to love here. Hook, Line, and Murder has found a place in my favourites this year. I hope the series has a long run ahead.
