A Slaying in Savannah

August 25, 2008
In Bain's 30th mystery based on the classic TV series Murder She Wrote
(after Murder on Parade
), Jessica Fletcher, Cabot Cove's crime-solving novelist, stands to inherit $1 million from the estate of her late friend, 91-year-old Tillie Mortelaine, if she can solve within a month the 1967 murder of Tillie's fiancé, Wanamaker Jones, who was shot during a New Year's eve party at Tillie's historic home in Savannah, Ga. Jessica soon settles into Mortelaine House, where she meets a number of odd tenants, including an eccentric professor at the Institute of Paranormal Relations and the younger man by some 20 years who was Tillie's second fiancé. Ferreting out who killed Wanamaker is tough work, but Jessica, as always, rises to the challenge. Ghostly assistance adds to the charm of the spunky sleuthing, though some readers may find the pacing a tad too sedate.