Congresswoman Carly Wagner, five-term U.S. congresswoman from Texas, and Mr. Jones, her sexy and enigmatic sleuthing partner, must figure out who strangled Judge Goodwin Deeds with a computer mouse cord in Power's diverting if lightweight second Washington, D.C., puzzler (after 2006's Missing Member
). When Carly's 12-year-old daughter, Jordan Underwood, discovers the body at the Deeds's house, where she'd gone without permission one night to play a computer game with the judge's two children, Jordan rushes home, where she surprises her mom enjoying a smooch on the couch with a date, Mississippi senator Sam Lyman. A nervous Jordan later admits she actually went to the Deedses' to retrieve a disk her Wiccan friend Sherry Bunting made that puts a hex on the opponent of Sherry's father, a Kentucky senator, in the fall election. Along for the ride is Carly's pet chimpanzee, Abe Lincoln, who plays a lively role in uncovering a sneaky killer. (Nov.)
