DEADLY PRIMROSE

In 1958, an amateur sleuth solves some murders as she conceals others.

Ever since she took in her late brother Francis' clever cat, Maurice, and his cheerfully bumbling dog, Bouncer, Primrose Oughterard has worked hard to cover up his many misdeeds, including murder. Although he died a hero’s death in The Primrose Pursuit (2016), she constantly worries that his past will come back to haunt her. Primrose, who's an artist as well as an amateur detective, often relies on the underworld expertise of Nicholas Ingaza, a shifty gallery owner who knew all her brother’s secrets. Despite his warning, she decides to investigate the odd demise of wealthy Elspeth Travers, who drowned even though she hated swimming and wouldn’t have been caught dead in the froufrou bathing cap she was wearing. Elspeth’s twin sister, Alice Markham, is strangely unmoved by her death. So is Elspeth’s languidly insolent son, Aston. A pistol-packing Alice visits to warn Primrose off Councilman Reginald Bewley, whom she covets for herself; continues on a rant about her ex-husband, who had a raft of mistresses, including her own sister; and then blithely describes how she and a friend murdered her sister before roaring down the drive, hitting a gatepost, and getting shot to death herself. Luckily, Maurice and Bouncer, who have their own narratives and viewpoints, are on hand to rescue Primrose from the misadventures and tricky situations that follow as she stumbles on.

The pets are the stars of this twisty, sardonically humorous adventure.