The Nest - Hal Glatzer

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Résumé :
The Nest is a new kind of cozy, with a fresh take on a classic setup; a breezy adventure mystery, set in the present day. Herman and Teddie (n?e Theodora) are a playful, affectionate couple in their sixties who alternate the narration in first-person voices. One morning, they discover the body of the landlord under their apartment's balcony. Everyone says it was an accident, but the homicide detective believes it was murder, and starts building a case against Herman and Teddie. To clear themselves, they set out to discover what really happened. But they are not the typical husband and wife one finds in traditional cozies. They have a secret they must conceal and protect. Forced by circumstance to go sleuthing, but never having done it before, they naively follow a trail of criminal mischief in the city. A series of suspicious incidents makes them realize that there are intrigues in the apartment house itself. Neighbors with motives for their landlord's murder keep piling up. The deeper they probe, the more they suspect that a limited-liability corporation is behind the murder. But LLCs can legally conceal their members' and investors' names. To identify who's responsible they have to skirt the law. Unexpectedly, they discover the truth about an ongoing scandal involving the chief of police. Which makes them realize that revealing too many secrets could backfire, exposing that secret of their own! Just when they think they've got all the answers, they fall into a trap. Though they escape the threat to their lives, in a wild and risky way, another serious challenge looms: They still have to convince that skeptical homicide detective that what they've learned-whodunit, how, and why-is really the truth--without exposing their own secret.

Biographie:
Hal Glatzer has been a mystery author since 1986. He was a journalist covering the computer industry when his first novel was published: a thriller about a hacker who gets into trouble hacking for organized crime. His Katy Green series features a working musician in the years before World War II, whose gigs land her in danger. Curious to learn why cities built -- but no longer have -- streetcar networks, he researched and wrote a bildungsroman to answer the question. During the pandemic he wrote five Sherlock Holmes pastiches, which were published in U.K. anthologies. He has written and produced stage play mysteries, as well as audio-plays presented in old-time-radio style. His latest novel, The Nest, is a cozy mystery with an unusual -- possibly unique -- twist. When Hal isn't working as a writer, he works as a musician, performing the Great American Songbook from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. After many years away, he now lives on his native island: Manhattan.