Murder Crossed Her Mind

A Pentecost and Parker Mystery

By: Stephen Spotswood

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice • The latest action-packed installment in the Nero Award-winning Pentecost & Parker Mystery series follows Lillian and Will tracking the suspicious disappearance of a woman who might have known too much. From the author of Fortune Favors the Dead and Murder Under Her Skin.

Vera Bodine, an elderly shut-in with an exceptional memory, has gone missing and famed detective Lillian Pentecost and her crackerjack assistant Willowjean “Will” Parker have been hired to track her down. But the New York City of 1947 can be a dangerous place, and there’s no shortage of people who might like to get ahold of what’s in Bodine’s head.

Does her disappearance have to do with the high-profile law firm whose secrets she still keeps; the violent murder of a young woman, with which Bodine had lately become obsessed; or is it the work she did with the FBI hunting Nazi spies intent on wartime sabotage? Any and all are on the suspect list, including their client, Forest Whitsun, hotshot defense attorney and no friend to Pentecost and Parker.

The clock is ticking to get Bodine back alive, but circumstances conspire to pull both investigators away from the case. Will is hot on the trail of a stickup team who are using her name—and maybe her gun—for their own ends. While Lillian again finds herself up against murder-obsessed millionaire Jessup Quincannon, who has discovered a secret from her past—something he plans to use to either rein the great detective in . . . or destroy her.

To solve this mystery, and defeat their own personal demons, the pair will have to go nose-to-nose with murderous gangsters, make deals with conniving federal agents, confront Nazi spies, and bend their own ethical rules to the point of breaking. Before time runs out for everyone.

©2023 Stephen Spotswood (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Faithful column readers know how much I adore Stephen Spotswood’s Pentecost and Parker series, and sometimes I feel . . . like a broken record recommending these books, set in post-World War II New York City, to anybody and everybody. I swore I was going to let this new installment pass without comment, but when it’s just as good as the last three, how could I. . . There’s a cliffhanger ending, which I shan’t spoil, but which raises my hopes very high for installment No. 5.”—Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review

“A worthy addition to a superb series. It is deftly plotted and expertly paced. The scrapes and skirmishes provide thrills, with moments of genuine tension. . . Bring on this pair's next magical mystery.”—The Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Christie-like . . . A superb retro noir that summons another unlikely brownstone duo, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin."—Booklist

Another fantastic P&P mystery !

Did not disappoint! Another really fun, witty and riveting story line. Surprises at every turn. A definite great read. Can’t wait for the next one! 👍🏼

A Shut-In Disappears; Pentecost & Parker Are On the Case

The latest installment in the mystery series featuring Lillian Pentecost and her Archie Goodwin, Willowjean Parker. Set in post-WW2 NYC, this is another tangled web for them to unravel, with a subplot involving Nazi spies. All well told, and well read, and very satisfyingly resolved.

Another Parkercost Winner!

Engaging story, familiar yet evolving characters, and clever, wisecracking dialogue. I ask you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is not to love about this retro-modern Watson-Holmes homage? I have just finished reading the entire canon of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes long and short stories. May I just say, as much as I love those originals, these are close. Congratulations Stephen’s mom, your fandom is well-earned by your beamish boy!

Love the time stamp and alternative adaptations

Reading was great. Juxtaposition of characters excellent and continuity with previous novels very satisfying. Can’t wait for the fifth!

another joy

release day is always a mixed bag...on the one hand I can't wait to finish it and on the other I want it to last forever

Thus series is so fun and smart.

Great characters, interesting plots, historical settings, and funny as well as smart - great reads. These three ladies make for such an enjoyable read - truly relaxing and entertaining.

Perfect imperfections

“When you might be stepping into danger, it’s always better to err on the side of armed.”
This series is stylish and sharp and gets better with each book. At its core is a well crafted mystery full of interesting people, clever hints, and effective misdirects. I loved the homage to the classics, you know the scene, where everyone from Poirot to Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote assembles the group in the room to announce the whodunnit.

Will: “So, an associate, not a secretary. I hoped for Whitson’s sake
he hired her for the strength of her law and not her legs.”
What separates this series from the pack are the foibles. Will’s pride and act-first-question-later personality gets her into troubles big and small. Her missteps make her relatable.
Her growth makes me root for her and see the person she will be five books from now.

“She did that thing with her one eyebrow that I absolutely never practice in the mirror.”
Another novelty includes the self-aware nods to the mystery genre. I get a kick out of Will’s sly inner monologue, especially when she breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the listener.

“Nails that stick out get hammered down.”
Prejudice features more prominently in this book, as to gender, race, and especially anti-LGBTQ sentiment in 1947. Another reviewer took issue with the N word, which as-used, is the five letter N word ending in O, and not the six letter one with the double Gs. Others may see no distinction, but I saw the word choice as striking a good balance between respectful in hindsight and staying true to the 1940’s era.

“You never throw out a good wrench.”
The writing is strong enough that this would still be a five star story with a different narrator … and yet
I can’t give enough praise to narrator Potter, whose voicing is spectacular. The missing woman mystery
is solved here, but the stage is set at the end for the next book. I can already tell it will be even better.

A lot of slurs

I understand that this book is meant to be set in the early 1940s, however, it was published this year and I don’t think it is necessary or acceptable to refer to the only black characters using the n word. As I was listening I counted 7 instances where black characters were described using the n word. Considering this story is written by a straight cis white man, it is clear that he was taking any excuse to use that word in an “acceptable” context and I find it quite disgusting. I also find it odd that he uses slurs in his books quite often when describing lgbtq+ characters and it’s unsettling. There are ways you can get across to the reader that this is a time period where bigotry was widely accepted without using slurs. Not only did I have to sit through all the problematic aspects of this book, but it wasn’t even a good story line overall. The murderer was very loosely thrown in there at the end and it was very lazy in my opinion. The book was extremely long and had a side plot that added nothing. I’d also like to mention that the author took a dig at Romani culture with his description of “fortune tellers” who’s entire job was scamming people or taking advantage of them.