INVITATION TO MURDER

Secrets from the past have an outsized impact in this debut mystery.

After the deaths of her parents in a car crash, Lacey Langdon takes up her great-aunt Tessa’s offer to move from Manhattan into the carriage house on the expansive Vander Horn estate in Willow Bluffs, New Jersey, most of which Tessa has just sold to two men eager to build on the Palisades, with their stunning views of the Hudson River and Manhattan. Tessa, an actor who’s long starred in the soap opera Edge of Darkness, lives mostly in her Manhattan apartment and now on the top floor of the renovated carriage house. Lacey, who grew up in Willow Bluffs, has taken over her mother’s printing business and become reacquainted with some of her old friends, including Derek Conover, a town councilman. When Glenn Hartman, another member of the council, is found dead at the bottom of the cliff behind her house, Lacey teams up with Derek to do some sleuthing. Glenn had a rocky marriage and was rumored to be having an affair with co-worker Gina Velasco. The incident is oddly reminiscent of the death of Sebastian DesChamps, Sophie Vander Horn’s forbidden lover many generations ago. Tessa’s devoted agent, Julien LaFontaine, is fascinated by the story and hopes to work it into the play he’s basing on Edge of Darkness. After seeing a portrait of Sophie, Lacey also wants to dive into the past, and life gets spooky when Sebastian’s calling cards start appearing with cryptic notes and a package with Sophie’s cameo brooch. Another murder suggests several motives. Was it love or money that impelled the killer?

Mystery mavens may guess the culprit, but the historical touches and engaging characters make for an entertaining read.