In Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, Jess Kidd delivers another charming mix of magic and mystery, this time wrapped around a tale of family love and dysfunction. Kidd keeps the story tethered to reality just enough before letting it fly into a world roamed by cats named for authors, a host of eccentrics and the ghosts of opinionated saints ... The action-packed climax leaves us with the whiff of a sequel. We can only hope it will come soon.
Unique and unconventional, Mr. Flood’s Last Resort is an unforgettable mystery that will appeal to fans of Tana French and Sophie Hannah, as it charms and unsettles in equal measure. Kidd (Himself) deftly balances whimsy and humor with a genuine sense of malice and danger. Savvy readers will question who can be trusted, as nothing—not even Maud—is as it initially seems.
Kidd’s (Himself, 2017) compelling second novel weaves love, betrayal, and forgiveness with humor, mystery, and a bit of magic. This absorbing mix of paranormal tragedy and heartfelt triumph will appeal to a broad swath of readers.
The gothic plot of this murder mystery (following Himself) about an Irish caregiver and her client, a cantankerous, widowed hoarder, boasts Kidd’s darkly comic sensibility, atmospheric writing, and colorful characters ... Less successful is a subplot about Maud’s childhood. Still, there are plenty of twists and perilous turns to keep the narrative moving. Kidd’s novel features a winning combination of descriptive writing, black humor, and biting dialogue.
Maud is intrepid and clever and winningly awkward with her phantom saints, and Mr. Flood, despite his awful hygiene, is endearingly irascible. The mystery itself becomes less of a focus, second to Maud’s hijinks in seeking to solve it, but answers are given, and they satisfy the creepy sense of unease instilled by Maud’s early encounters in the house. It won’t be like any other novel you’ve read this year—or maybe ever—but it’s worth it.
