HEAVEN PRESERVE US

Is a case of death by botulism a terrible accident or murder?

While doing volunteer work answering the Heaven House Helpline, soapmaker Sophie Mae Reynolds is disturbed by a caller who seems to be stalking her rather than asking for professional help. Her concerns for herself pale, however, when Heaven House director Philip Heaven dies a nasty death in front of her eyes. Her boyfriend, policeman Barr Ambrose, ends up in the hospital with the same symptoms but survives. The authorities blame these developments on a bad jar of home-canned beets. But Sophie Mae, fresh from recently solving a murder, has a feeling this was no accident. It turns out that all the programs Philip Heaven was pledged to support went by the wayside so that he could spend the funds on himself. Sophie Mae is also worried about her housemate Meghan Bly, who’s dating another volunteer at Heaven House, a man who seems to have no past. As Barr rests up in Sophie Mae’s spare bedroom, the local force, stretched tight, has brought in a gorgeous, supercilious Seattle detective to help find the serial attacker plaguing the area. With no help forthcoming from the police, it is up to Sophie Mae to track down a killer and expose her stalker.

Stubborn Sophie Mae’s sophomore case provides her with more intriguing opportunities for sleuthing than her debut (Lye in Wait, 2007) ever did.