HOUNDING A KILLER

A teacher-turned-children’s-author helps expose a killer.

Civic celebrations are a staple of cozy mysteries, and Crosbyville’s annual Fall Festival fills the bill here. Priscilla Cummings is so enthralled by the rich blend of games, food, rides, and demonstrations on offer that she takes time off from writing the latest entry in her Bailey the Bloodhound, Pet Detective franchise to enjoy the festivities despite her agent’s concern about a looming deadline. Unfortunately, an even greater distraction lies just ahead. A spate of murders at Townsend Farms, a local estate (which isn't actually a farm, despite the name), threatens Pris’ nearest and dearest, prompting her to investigate. Pris shuttles between the fair and the estate trying to help David Townsend, grandson to Townsend Farms’ late owner Edward, cope with a rapidly escalating body count. Pris is a charmer, and so is her feisty Aunt Agatha. Pris’ romance with police Chief Gilbert Morgan is sweet but not cloying, with just the right amount of tension between his feelings for Pris and his loyalty to his job. But Benjamin invites a huge cast of characters to the party, and keeping track of all their comings and goings weighs heavily on her narrative. Just telling and retelling the story of Pris’ background—with a white father and Black mother who met in the Peace Corps and died when she was a baby—takes time, as does explaining the convoluted history of the Townsend clan. With enough sisters and cousins and aunts to populate a Gilbert and Sullivan extravaganza, it’s hard for Pris to shine.

Less might well be more.