cover image SHE'S NOT THERE: A Poppy Rice Mystery

SHE'S NOT THERE: A Poppy Rice Mystery

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, . . Holt, $25 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-8050-7223-5

FBI agent Poppy and her ATF field adviser boyfriend, Joe Barnow, encounter murder where they least expect it—on tranquil Block Island, where they've come for a much-deserved and long-awaited respite—in Smith's unsettling second Poppy Rice whodunit (after 2002's Love Her Madly). The strangely convulsed bodies of first one, then a second camper from the island's isolated camp for overweight teenage girls turn up, and a shockingly different view of paradise emerges—that of a tight community of old families whose legacy includes shipwrecks, slaves, hard times and buried secrets. Smith vividly illustrates that victims can come in all sizes and ages and that individual prejudices and inability to deal with the tough stuff of life can lead to devastating consequences. Author tour. (Feb. 3)

FYI: Love Her Madly was chosen as a People magazine Page-Turner of the Week.