A winter wedding in Maine brings both joy and tragedy.
Realtor Darby Farr (Deadly Offer, 2012, etc.) has returned to the island of Hurricane Harbor with mixed feelings. Since running away from her difficult childhood there years ago, she’s come back only once before returning this time to serve as a bridesmaid for her friend Tina Ames. Darby arrives just in time for Police Chief Charles Dupont, an old family friend, to ask for help. Lorraine Delvecchio, a former employee of the department, is dead. The neighboring police have written off her demise as an accidental fall from a sea wall into the frigid water. But Charles thinks otherwise, and no wonder: Lorraine was evidently a blackmailer who preferred to identify her marks only by initials. Meanwhile, Darby discovers a diary in a box hidden in the attic of her house, which once belonged to her Japanese mother. The diary, written in Japanese, may exonerate her grandfather of World War II atrocities. Darby shows it to a Japanese chemist who claims to just be in the neighborhood. When her boyfriend, British journalist Miles Porter, arrives, his observation that several pages have been cut from the diary prompts Darby to call the FBI. She’s just starting to enjoy her old home when Charles is shot dead. Even though her investigation puts her own life in danger, she continues to hunt for the mysterious killer and search for more information about her family.
A twisty fourth case that strikes close to the bone for a complex, likable sleuth.
