Five Decembers

by James Kestrel

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Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML:Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel �??War, imprisonment, torture, romance�?�The novel has an almost operatic symmetry, and Kestrel turns a beautiful phrase.�?� New York Times Five Decembers is a gripping thriller, a staggering portrait of war, and a heartbreaking love story, as unforgettable as All the Light We Cannot See. nominated for Best Novel in the 2022 EDGAR AWARDS NOMINATED FOR BEST THRILLER IN THE 2022 BARRY AWARDS FINALIST FOR THE HAMMETT PRIZE 2021 "Read this book for its palpitating story, its perfect emotional and physical detailing and, most of all, for its unforgettable conjuring of a steamy quicksilver world that will be new to almost every reader." Pico Iyer December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever. Because the trail of murder he uncovers will lead him across the Pacific, far from home and the woman he loves; and though the U.S. doesn't know it yet, a Japanese fleet is already steaming toward Pearl Harbor. This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story�??it's a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war. Spanning the entirety of World War II, FIVE DECEMBERS is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)

This is one of the Edgar nominees and a very deserving one. Mostly noir in tone, and full of details of Hawaii and the South Pacific during World War II. The protagonist was sympathetic and the plot, though very involved, was, nonetheless easy to follow and compelling. Somehow , amidst all that, the author manages to fit in two sad romances and a bit of a third. Well worth reading. Seems his editor had him cut about 200 pages, I’d be interested in seeing them (

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cspiwak | Mar 6, 2024 |

One more five-star novel, through which I tore in almost one sitting. Five Decembers begins the night before Thanksgiving, 1941, when Honolulu detective is summoned to the scene of a double murder. James Kestrel—the pseudonym of thriller writer Jonathan Moore—writes lean like his hard-boiled noir predecessors, so you expect something sharp and short, like a switchblade. But the novel feels positively expansive, with multiple transcontinental crossings and (as hinted by the title) the entire epic sweep of the Second World War as its backdrop. It’s also an unexpectedly moving story of love and loyalty against all odds. No spoilers here, but except for the particularly gruesome deaths at the beginning of the novel—fairly explicit even for a crime / horror fan like me—I can see Five Decembers appealing to a wider audience.
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thewilyf | Dec 25, 2023 |

This fantastic novel is a grand example of the crime novel bursting out of its genre confines. Besides being a crackling good detective story, it brilliantly illuminates how the world can be disrupted in an instant and how such disruptions can affect even the seemingly most unrelated matters. Somebody needs to make a limited tv series out of this immediately. A remarkable and poignant book. (

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jumblejim | Aug 26, 2023 |

This book began very well! Actually, all of part one was right on the money for me! Honolulu Detective Joe McGrady investigates a horrible double homicide that has ties to things going on at the beginning of World War II. This part moves quickly, and had me hooked.

From that point, until Joe gets back to Hawaii, I wasn't as happy with the story, or the pace of it. Joe goes island hopping on his chase of John Smith and ends up in Japan for the duration of the war. Definitely much too long for me.

Back in Hawaii, and up until the dramatic showdown, I was hooked again. After the showdown, I was letdown again. So it was a book of ups and downs for me, the ups being pretty dang exciting to read, and the downs being much too long. If I were ever to re-read it, I'd only read the beginning and end. (

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Stahl-Ricco | Apr 8, 2023 |

Wow, wow, wow!
A mystery wrapped in an outstanding story, wrapped in some of the best storytelling I have read in years.
Read this book!
A double murder gets things started thanksgiving night Honolulu 1941.
Hawaii
Hong Kong
Tokyo
5 years
What a story! (

)

zmagic69 | Mar 31, 2023 |

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Awards

Barry Award (Winner – Thriller – 2022)

Edgar Award (Nominee – Novel – 2022)

Hammett Prize (Nominee – 2021)

Distinctions

Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (2021)

This Mystery is Amazing! (Foreign – 2024)

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2021-10

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Hawai'i, USA

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Joe McGrady was looking at a whiskey.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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▾Book descriptions

Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML:Winner of the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Novel

�??War, imprisonment, torture, romance�?�The novel has an almost operatic symmetry, and Kestrel turns a beautiful phrase.�?�
New York Times

Five Decembers is a gripping thriller, a staggering portrait of war, and a heartbreaking love story, as unforgettable as All the Light We Cannot See.
nominated for Best Novel in the 2022 EDGAR AWARDS

NOMINATED FOR BEST THRILLER IN THE 2022 BARRY AWARDS

FINALIST FOR THE HAMMETT PRIZE 2021

"Read this book for its palpitating story, its perfect emotional and physical detailing and, most of all, for its unforgettable conjuring of a steamy quicksilver world that will be new to almost every reader."
Pico Iyer

December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever. Because the trail of murder he uncovers will lead him across the Pacific, far from home and the woman he loves; and though the U.S. doesn't know it yet, a Japanese fleet is already steaming toward Pearl Harbor.

This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story�??it's a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war. Spanning the entirety of World War II, FIVE DECEMBERS is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.

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