HANGING WITH HUGO

Their honeymoon over, Lt. Sheriff Luke Richards and his bride, Stony Beach Inn owner Emily Richards, return to Tillamook County, Oregon, for another round of nuptials and homicide.

Emily’s half brother, Oscar Lansing, is ready to tie the knot with psychology professor Lauren Hsu, but nothing else is ready. St. Bede’s Church is undergoing intrusive reconstruction work, Oscar’s forgotten to engage a photographer, and Emily’s inn, which should be housing the wedding guests, is unexpectedly crowded. At the request of her former priest from Portland, she’s taken in Moses Valory and his teenage ward, Charlotte, who doesn’t speak, presumably as a result of the abuse she and her late mother, Faye Lovelace, suffered at the hands of Faye’s common law husband, Terry Garner. Moses and Charlotte need to get away from Portland for a while, since in his search for Charlotte, Terry has engaged aggressively misnamed social worker Janine Vertue, who soon manages to unite the citizens of Windy Corner. They all hate her, a surprising number of them because, in the course of her career, she’s threatened their own domestic happiness and peace. When Janine is found hanging in her bathroom at the inn, the only dissenting voice from the chorus of general contentment is that of Oscar, who forthrightly underlines the genre’s priorities by asking, “Murder? Right before our wedding?” The obvious suspect turns out to be the killer, and Victor Hugo, the author honored in this installment of Hyde’s franchise, makes a disappointingly marginal appearance. But the ceremony and reception come off fine, courtesy of an unexpected photographer.

Strictly for fans whose expectations don’t include any more novelty or mystery than you’d find at most weddings.