Home Sweet Homicide

Dewey James, semiretired librarian and amateur investigator, is anticipating the town of Hamilton's homecoming celebration for locals who have made good. One notable success is Broadway dance star Jenny Riley who, with her partner, the debonair Alejandro Ponseca, presents a spectacular tango routine. But someone at the festivities isn't a fan: after the performance Riley is found murdered. Henrietta Ambler, a wealthy widow smitten with Ponseca, points her finger at Fielding Booker, the police chief who gave Riley a poisoned drink. Booker retaliates by investigating Ponseca. James casts her net further afield, suspecting Mildred Jones, who blames Riley for ruining the life of her son (Riley's high school beau), and some folks who might have met Riley in the big city: Norman Fox, a dance instructor lately arrived from Manhattan, and Alfred Scott, whose first novel is about to be published by a major New York house. Though James views her surroundings with mild condescension and tediously drops quotations into conversation, Morgan's ( Murder Most Fowl ) lightweight mystery plays fair with clues and is generally entertaining. (Sept.)