cover image Murder Under the Covered Bridge

Murder Under the Covered Bridge

Elizabeth Perona. Midnight Ink, $14.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-7387-4805-4

In this diverting sequel to Perona’s Murder on the Bucket List (2015), the women of the Summer Ridge Bridge Club, all in their 70s, gather on a scenic bridge to pose for photos for a sexy pinup calendar as part of the Parke County, Iowa, Covered Bridge Festival. Then gunshots ring out, and the ladies see a man running across a cornfield in their direction; he stumbles down the creek bank below the bridge and falls unconscious at the edge of the water. The unconscious man turns out to be Matthew, a nursing home owner who’s a second cousin of one of the women, Francine McNamara. As they await the arrival of the police, Francine wonders whether the ensuing police investigation might generate some welcome publicity for their group. The solution to the shooting incident may be far-fetched, but cozy fans will enjoy spending time with Francine and friends. Perona is the pseudonym of the father-daughter writing team of Tony Perona and Elizabeth Dombrosky. (July)