Arsenic with Austen

May 2, 2016
The execution falls short of the well-conceived concept of Hyde’s first novel, a contemporary series launch. Widowed Reed College literature professor Emily Cavanaugh travels to the peaceful seaside retreat of Stony Beach, Ore., after her late great-aunt, Beatrice Runcible, leaves her $6 million, a mansion, and most of the buildings in town. It isn’t long before Emily hears rumors that Aunt Beatrice may have been murdered to clear the way for a resort development that she vehemently opposed. Now the property belongs to Emily, who’s equally determined to maintain the town’s character. Another suspicious death and a couple of close calls show that someone wants Emily out of the way as well. There’s no mistaking who’s on Emily’s side and who’s against her. The good guys are charming, and the bad guys are mustache-twirling villains. Hopefully, Hyde will give her characters more depth in the sequel. Agent: Kimberly Cameron, Kimberly Cameron & Associates.

May 15, 2016
A legacy turns deadly in a series debut.The joy of teaching literature at Reed College has gone out of Emily Cavanaugh's life since she lost her husband two years earlier. She's shocked out of her ennui, however, when her great-aunt Beatrice Runcible dies and leaves Emily most of her property. Beatrice was generous to Emily when she needed a home as a child and teenager, but they hadn't met in years. Now Emily isn't sure she's worthy of the large Victorian house (complete with housekeeper) and several other buildings in Stony Beach, Oregon, as well as a big pile of cash. When she meets her fellow legatee and cousin-in-law at Beatrice's funeral, he's quick to agree with her self-deprecating opinion. The mayor of Stony Beach and an aggressive realtor both assume that Emily will boost the community by selling her beachfront property for development. And the doctor who signed Beatrice's death certificate has an interest in seeing the will pass probate, making it harder for Emily to find out if her great-aunt did indeed die from an allergic reaction to lobster. The seemingly accidental death of the redoubtable housekeeper and a fire at one of Emily's lesser buildings indicate that someone's out to get her, though it doesn't prevent her from taking in a possible spy for one of the suspects. Apart from her mortal danger, Emily's a lucky woman: she has a literary allusion for every occasion, stands to inherit half the town and $6 million, and gets a second chance with Luke Richards, who was her boyfriend 35 years ago. He's still living in Stony Beach, more handsome than ever, conveniently single, and the local sheriff's lieutenant. As Luke and Emily rekindle their romance, they combine their wits to find the killer before he--or she--strikes again. Although first-time novelist Hyde's middle-aged heroine has wretched instincts about whom to trust, she and her lost-and-found lover make an amiable team.

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June 1, 2016

When her great-aunt dies, retired English professor Emily Cavanaugh travels to Stony Beach, OR, to claim her inheritance and start anew in her old hometown. Emily finds some of the townsfolk welcoming, while others resent her; Her first love, Luke Richards, is now the sheriff. Both Emily and Luke suspect Aunt Beatrice's death was unnatural, and when another family friend is killed, the question becomes, can Emily survive to inherit? The solution might lie in Jane Austen's Persuasion. VERDICT Children's author Hyde makes her adult fiction debut with an intelligent traditional mystery that stars an endearing woman of a certain age who draws on her knowledge of literature to solve crimes.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Murders are solved handily, and first love is reignited in this contemporary cozy with a literary bent. Widowed literature professor Emily Cavanaugh suddenly becomes a very wealthy woman when her Aunt Beatrice dies, leaving a large estate. But Beatrice's deathof acute gastroenteritis, after dining with a local real-estate dealer and the town mayorpuzzles Emily. Beatrice's longtime housekeeper, who thinks her employer was poisoned, then dies in a suspicious accident. Emily finds herself at the heart of a controversy about development that would change the nature of the sleepy seaside town of Stony Beach, Oregon, where she now owns considerable property. She also finds herself in a quandary over town sheriff Luke Richards, who was her teenage lover 35 years earlier in a relationship that ended precipitously and has nagged her ever since. Jane Austen is ever present here, in snippets from her novels at the start of chapters and in Emily's comparison of Stony Beach residents to Austen characters. Meanwhile, Emily is threatened and considers who would gain most from murders past and potential. An engaging start to a series by debut-novelist Hyde.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2018
Four years ago, investigative reporter Viljar Gudmundsson found fame when he broke the explosive story of a Norwegian government minister coercing underage boys to trade sexual favors for prestigious internships. Tragically, the story also led to his teenage source's death. Guilt has now soured Viljar's taste for investigative reporting. Then, after a killer calling himself Maestro begins sending Viljar announcements of his next kills, the reporter is pulled into the hunt. Maestro, a self-styled vigilante, bizarrely models his murders on scenes from famous Scandinavian thrillers. When Viljar's personal connections to Maestro's victims become evident, he becomes a suspect and is forced into a desperate race to protect his friends and clear himself. Luckily, investigative savant Lotte Skeisvoll, the Maestro task force's lead investigator, has difficulty seeing half-broken Viljar as a killer. This Gudmundsson and Skeisvoll series debut is a gripping, suitably atmospheric must-read for Scandinavian crime-fiction devotees; Tangen draws in scenes from favorites Gunnar Staalesen, Jo Nesb�, Anne Holt, and Henning Mankell in a clever play on life's imitation of art.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)