WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 43Review_FICTION
trick is focusing on the right ones.”
Fortunately for him, canny Lillian and
keen-eyed Edith are prepared to investi-
gate and clear Gene’s name. Patrick skill-
fully stitches together bits of authentic
Hollywood history and provides star
turns for the likes of Bette Davis and
Fred MacMurray in this exuberant tale
of murder, revenge, and sartorial splendor.
Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore & Co.
(Jan.)Bound for Murder:
A Blue Ridge Library Mystery
Victoria Gilbert. Crooked Lane, $26.99
(320p) ISBN 978-1-64385-243-0
The discovery of a body on the farm of
mayoral candidate Sunny Fields’s grand-
parents propels Gilbert’s diverting fourth
Blue Ridge Library mystery set in
Taylorsford, Va. (after 2019’s Past Due for
Murder). Since a scandal connected to
Sunny’s family wouldn’t be good for her
candidacy, her best friend, librarian Amy
Webber, steps up to help. Amy proposes
to use her research skills to try to clear the
grandparents, who once ran a commune
on the farm. When the skeletal remains,
showing signs of foul play, are identified
as those of a man who went missing
from the commune back in the 1960s,
the cold case starts to heat up. Amy’s
66-year-old aunt, Lydia Talbot, is a good
source of information, while Lydia’s sig-
nificant other, Hugh Chen, and Amy’s
fiancé, Richard Muir, also assist in the
sleuthing. The stakes rise with a second
murder, but is it connected to the first
one? The plot builds to a complex but
satisfying solution. Cozy fans will hope
Amy will return soon. Agent: Frances
Black, Literary Counsel. (Jan.)★ Waltz into Darkness
Cornell Woolrich. Penzler, $25.95 (360p)
ISBN 978-1-61316-151-7; $15.95 trade paper
ISBN 978-1-61316-152-4
In this unrelentingly grim noir from
Woolrich (1903–1968), first published
in 1947 and set in 1880 New Orleans,
Louis Durand, the owner of a prosperous
coffee-import business, is looking forward
to meeting the woman he’s romanced via
correspondence, who he hopes will offer
him a chance for a happiness years after
losing his first love to yellow fever. The
Julia Russell who shows up at the docksomewhat draggy, seventh County Cork
mystery (after 2019’s The Lost Traveller),
spunky American expat Maura Donovan,
who has been living in Ireland for little
more than a year, receives a caller at her
cottage door: Ciara McCarthy, an archae-
ology grad student at University College
Cork. Ciara wants to explore the mysterious
ring forts, which date back to the early
Middle Ages, on Maura’s property.
Maura’s permission leads to Ciara and
two fellow students doing so, but when
one of the students disappears, Maura
and Sean Murphy, her garda friend,
begin a search. Instead of the missing
student, they find a dead body buried in
one of the ring forts. That it’s evidently
been there a long time raises a lot of tan-
talizing questions. Meanwhile, Maura
struggles to reconnect with her mother,
who only recently reentered her life after
a 20-year absence, and the half-sister she
didn’t know she had. The drawn-out plot
may put off newcomers, but series fans
will enjoy spending time in the company
of old friends. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds.
(Jan.)Script for Scandal
Renee Patrick. Severn, $28.99 (240p)
ISBN 978-0-7278-8910-2
In Patrick’s well-paced third 1930s
Hollywood mystery (after 2017’s
Dangerous to Know), Oscar-winning costume
designer Edith Head slips her friend
Lillian Frost, social secretary to a star-
struck millionaire, the script of a film
based on a real bank robbery that was
committed three years before. According
to the script, the robbery was conceived
by a police detective, whose partner was
killed in pursuit of the thieves. The dirty
cop is called Jim Morris, who may be
based on Gene Morrow, Lillian’s police
officer gentleman friend who investigated
the robbery. As
press interest in
the film heats
up, rumors start
flying about
Gene’s involve-
ment. As Gene
says, “All
manner of
strange things
turn up in cases
like this. Thefor the murders of other men similarly
arrested and likely guilty of the same
crime. Though often depressed, Veum
doggedly pursues “life’s many shadowy
beasts,” aided by “new Norwegian”
Ghulam Mohammed and Tønsberg
lawyer Svend Foyn. Eventually, Veum
discovers who’s lying—nearly everyone—
in this bleak parable of disintegrating
Norwegian cultural values. Raymond
Chandler fans won’t want to miss this
one. Agent: Anne Cathrine Eng, Gyldendal
Agency (Norway). (Jan.)
If She Were Dead
J.P. Smith. Poisoned Pen, $15.99 trade paper
(320p) ISBN 978-1-4926-6903-6
Popular author Amelie Ferrar, the
protagonist of this taut, twisted thriller
from Smith (The Drowning), is always
thinking ahead, envisaging her next plot
twist. Though Amelie has relied tangen-
tially on her personal life for inspiration,
she finds herself at a crossroads: she
thought she was happy—immersed in a
two-year affair
with a married
man, Ben—but
she wants more.
Her daughter’s
in college, her
ex-husband’s
new wife is
expecting, and
she feels unteth-
ered and alone.
Unfortunately,
Ben doesn’t feel the need for any changes
and has no intention of leaving his wife.
Stranger still, Ben’s wife has reached out to
Amelie as a friend and confidant. Is it
coincidence, karmic comeuppance, or per-
haps something more sinister? As Amelie
plots the future, on the page and off, she
begins to lose control of her narratives with
such unexpected and dangerous results as
betrayal and death. Smith does a masterful
job blending multiple story lines. Readers
will find plenty of action, intrigue, and
surprises. Agent: Claire Roberts, Claire
Roberts Global Literary Management. (Jan.)
Fatal Roots:
A County Cork Mystery
Sheila Connolly. Crooked Lane, $26.99
(288p) ISBN 978-1-64385-239-3
At the start of Connolly’s solid, if