cover image Next Door to Murder

Next Door to Murder

Anthea Fraser, . . Severn, $28.95 (218pp) ISBN 978-0-7278-6614-1

In Fraser's leisurely sixth Rona Parrish cozy (after 2007's Rogue in Porcelain ), the freelance journalist and her artist husband, Max Allerdyce, are used to knowing little about the tenants who come and go at the four-story Georgian house next door to their own in Marsborough. But when a reserved couple, Barbara and Keith Franks, and their adult daughter, Louise, become their new neighbors, Rona is intrigued to learn from Louise that she has no memory of her prior life in Canada due to an accident. Rona soon discovers that helping Louise reclaim her past is more exciting—and perilous—than her current assignment, writing about a family-owned furniture store for Chiltern Life magazine. Fraser's cozy goes down with a mild kick, like tea laced with a dash of brandy. (June)