Bloodstains with Bronte

October 2, 2017
In Hyde’s lackluster second Crime with the Classics mystery (after 2016’s Arsenic with Austen), former literature professor Emily Cavanaugh hosts a murder mystery event at Windy Corner, the mansion she inherited from her great-aunt in Stony Beach, Ore. The game turns deadly when one of the actors, a local youth with a bad reputation, is stabbed to death. Katie Parker, Emily’s beloved housekeeper, has a powerful motive, and the ensuing investigation jeopardizes Emily’s newly rekindled romance with sheriff Luke Richards. Emily identifies her own suspect, a construction worker obsessed with Katie and reminiscent of Wuthering Heights’ Heathcliff. Meanwhile, Luke enlists Emily’s aid in solving the crime, despite her civilian status and lack of objectivity. Implausible plot lines and one-dimensional characters may put off some readers, but those who appreciate literary allusions and quaint settings might enjoy a visit to Stony Beach. Emily’s Eastern Orthodox faith and Christian themes figure prominently throughout, adding crossover appeal for the evangelical market. Agent: Kimberly Cameron, Kimberly Cameron & Associates.

October 1, 2017
Murder is the main course at a fancy-dress fundraiser.Emily Cavanaugh had an attendant fairy at her christening. She was named for one of the Bronte sisters and flourished for years as a literature professor at Reed College. Now, a substantial legacy has encouraged her to contemplate retiring, readjusting from cosmopolitan Portland to small-town life near the village of Stony Beach, and sharing her good fortune by turning her inherited Victorian house into a writers' retreat. Emily relies on Katie Parker, the young housekeeper she loves almost like a daughter, whose own infant daughter is as good as a grandchild. But the renovation team, headed by a contractor who doubles as a fire-and-brimstone preacher, causes more than the usual construction woes. The renovators include both a Heathcliff-ian classmate of Katie's and his rival, rich, spoiled bad boy Jake Newhouse, who fathered Katie's baby. To help pay for the mounting costs of building a local clinic, Emily assents to Katie's plan to hold a $100 per plate dinner at which some of the "guests" will act out a murder. Understandably nervous, Emily invites Stony Beach's sheriff and her rediscovered high school boyfriend, Luke Richards, to safeguard the event. With an overenthusiastic drama teacher directing the cast, a house with a secret staircase and a boarded-up chamber, and Jake playing the corpse, what, as one of the guests reassuringly chirps, could go wrong? Nothing except the far-too-obvious outcome of the murder play, a long list of suspects that includes Katie, a rift between Emily and Luke, dozens of pairs of dress gloves that need DNA testing, a couple of subsidiary crimes, and a plot that could have used fewer hints and more surprises.This sequel to Arsenic with Austen (2016) is pleasant but predictable, with just enough intrigue to prevent it from becoming Zzzz's with Zola.

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October 1, 2017
Emily Cavanaugh, on sabbatical from her teaching job at a Portland, Oregon, college, is in Stony Beach to turn her inherited Victorian mansion into a writers' retreat and, perhaps, to rekindle a romance with sheriff's detective Luke Richards. Unfortunately, at a murder-mystery-night fundraiser at the mansion, a member of the cast, Jake Newhouse, is found dead, with Emily's housekeeper, Katiea young, single motherstanding over him holding a bloody knife. Katie, who has a past with Jake, remembers nothing of what happened, and Emily is convinced of her innocence. However, Luke considers Katie a suspect, and Emily withholds evidence from Luke, straining their budding relationship. The writers'-retreat theme opens the story to plenty of literary references, and there are also details about home remodeling and decorating woven throughout this cozy, set in small-town coastal Oregon and featuring a middle-aged main character trying to decide whether she should totally change her life. Chapters begin with quotes from Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)