TWISTED AT THE ROOT

An inquiry into a miscarriage of justice links Jane Lawless’ brother to a seedy crew.

Four years after the murder of Gideon Wise, his husband, Rashad May, is still in prison for Gideon’s death. When restaurateur/investigator Jane Lawless (A Whisper of Bones, 2014, etc.) agrees to help her father reopen the case, she doesn’t expect to develop her own stake in the findings. It becomes clear to her almost immediately that Rashad had little motive to murder Gideon, but it doesn’t become correspondingly clear who did until a surprise visit from Jane’s brother Peter leads to a break in the case. Peter is connected to the J.H. Chenoweth Gallery, and Jane has sussed out that, apart from Rashad, the gallery provided the only other access to Gideon and Rashad’s home. Peter’s reluctant to help when Jane questions consultant Kit Lipton-Chenoweth, the wife of gallery owner John Henry Chenoweth. Peter’s had a thing for Kit for a long time, ever since Kit was the girlfriend of Eli, Peter’s former dealer and, distressingly, John Henry’s son. Peter’s determination to carry a torch for Kit without ruining his good name may prevent Jane from clearing Rashad’s name, but the able backup of her closest and most dramatic friend, Cordelia Thorn, gives her a fighting chance at the truth.

Hart uses the characters introduced in this installment of her long-running series to ramp up the creepiness.