TO COACH A KILLER

A life coach determined to investigate a hit woman called the Angel of Death doesn’t foresee all the potential dangers.

In a fast sequel to Catherine Cooper’s last adventure in Coached to Death (2019), Cat is stuck on investigating a sociopathic hit woman responsible for a trail of murders tangentially affecting Cat’s life. Take, for example, the killing of Lenny Shepherd. The real estate agent was snatched by the killer years earlier, and Cat wants to get to the bottom of it so she can allay the ignorance of her friend (just friend, she insists) Detective Steve Shepherd about why his ex-wife was killed by such a notorious fiend. Meanwhile, Cat’s love interest, Maks Grinkov, who’s been all but MIA lately, shows up asking Cat for an act of faith. Because of his connection to Canadian Security Intelligence Services, he needs Cat to act as a go-between for him and his handler. Surely Cat—or Catherine, as he formally puts it—trusts him, right? And Cat’s real-life job as East Hampton’s newest life coach is a perfect cover for making handoffs to strangers. Besides, her only recent client, Willem Entwistle, a little person plagued by a curse of bad luck, is hardly occupying all her time. Between Maks’ access to intelligence info and her requisite gay partner in crime, mischievous Gilley Gillespie, it’s only a matter of time before Cat’s sleuthing rouses the killer from hiding. Stay safe, Cat.

Predictable plotting doesn’t slow a fun read that gets by on its characters’ charm.