Love, Honour, and O’Brien: A Blue Mountains Mystery

After Andrew McNish, a smooth-talking financial adviser, runs out on office supply clerk Holly Love with most of her savings on the eve of their wedding, Holly vows to get even in this engaging stand-alone from Australian author Rowe (Death in Store). Holly hires seedy PI Mick O’Brien to locate her ex-fiancé, but when Mick turns up dead, Holly has to investigate on her own. Mistaken for Mick’s business partner, she encounters a number of odd characters in her travels around New South Wales: clairvoyant and psychic Abigail Honour, an opinionated parrot, an Elvis impersonator who drives a hearse, and an elderly invalid, Una Maggott, who’s convinced Andrew was her long-lost half-brother and has been murdered by someone in her household with an eye on her fortune. Despite some overly lengthy exposition, fans of quirky mysteries and skillful suspense will find much to enjoy. (Jan.)