The Man Who Swore He'd Never Go Home Again
183 pages · Released Mar 18, 2025 · Penzler Publishers
Content report card
The Man Who Swore He'd Never Go Home Again parent’s guide: what’s inside
LGBTQ+ themes
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a cozy mystery novel featuring an established adult detective character investigating a murder in his hometown. While it involves a death and explores darker themes like town decay and drug use, the tone remains relatively light and focused on puzzle-solving rather than graphic content. The protagonist models curiosity, resilience, and reconciliation with his past, making it suitable for older teens, though some younger readers interested in mysteries may find it accessible.
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From the publisher
In this case from early in Stewart Hoag's career, the newly successful writer revisits his hometown to investigate the murder of a beloved librarian. Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag always swore that he would never return to Oakmont, Connecticut, the small mill town where his family lived for generations. He certainly has no desi... In this case from early in Stewart Hoag's career, the newly successful writer revisits his hometown to investigate the murder of a beloved librarian. Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag always swore that he would never return to Oakmont, Connecticut, the small mill town where his family lived for generations. He certainly has no desire to interrupt his high life as the newest great American novelist to revisit the town that hates his family and will only bring back memories of his unhappy childhood. But when his childhood sweetheart phones to say that her mother, Mary McKenna, the librarian who inspired Hoagy's dream to be a writer, has died, Hoagy knows he has to return for her funeral. Especially when Maggie adds that her mother didn't die of natural causes. Who would want to murder a beloved mill town librarian? Determined to pay his respects to one of the few people in his hometown he truly cared for, Hoagy hops in his Jaguar and heads to Oakmont with his new girlfriend Merilee and even newer basset hound puppy Lulu in tow. The town where his family's brass mill once thrived is now a toxic, lead-poisoned ghost town filled with illegal drugs, broken families, violence, bitterness, and resentment. Hoagy is surprised to discover former classmate and bullying target, Pete Schlosski, has become the State Police Resident Trooper. But while Pete seems to have forgiven his past tormentors, he doesn't have any ideas as to which of them might be a killer. Hoagy, on the other hand, has learned plenty about the art of investigation from hours spent in the library, and his four-month-old puppy shows a surprising knack for tracking down clues... Readers will be delighted to return to where it all began and experience Lulu's very first case in this charming installment of the Edgar Award-nominated Stewart Hoag series.
Shelved under
- Fiction
- Fiction, mystery & detective, general
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ISBN 9781613166147 · Penzler Publishers