September 5, 2022
Carter’s well-crafted fifth Inishowen mystery (after 2018’s Murder at Greysbridge) finds lawyer Benedicta “Ben” O’Keeffe returning home to Glendara, Ireland, the day before a charity bicycle race. Money is to be raised for assisted living residences managed by Bob Jameson, the altruistic race organizer. Unfortunately, torrential rains wash out bridges, and streams overflow their banks, inundating the town and cutting it off from all outside access. The cyclists, along with the townsfolk, are trapped, and the race is postponed. Much worse, Jameson’s body is discovered when the storm dislodges it from its perch on an unlikely hillside and it rolls onto the hood of a passing car. Everyone is stunned and alarmed, and everyone is a suspect. With scant resources, Ben and police sergeant Tom Molloy, her laconic but sincere on-again, off-again beau, work together to unknot a baffling tangle of business and personal relationships that tie residents of Glendara to the Jameson family. Carter keeps the suspense high en route to the exciting climax. Fans of Gerald Elias’s Daniel Jacobus series will want to check this out. Agent: Noa Rosen, Susanna Lea Assoc.