The Bad Break

In Orr’s enjoyable sequel to 2017’s The Good Byline, Tabitha St. Simon, Riley Ellison’s coworker at the Tuttle Times, calls Riley, aspiring journalist and obituary underling at the newspaper, when she finds her future father-in-law, prominent cardiologist Arthur Davenport, lying dead on the office floor of his Tuttle, Va., home. Riley calls acting sheriff Carl Haight and deputy Chip “Butter” Churner, who are convinced by the knife in Arthur’s chest that it’s a homicide. Riley seizes the chance to pitch writing the obit to editor Kay Jackson, who agrees, but when Haight arrests Tabitha’s fiancé, Arthur’s son Thad, Tabitha asks Riley to investigate. Since Arthur played around, suspects, including incensed husbands, are easy to find. Mayor Shalene Lancett and her obnoxious nephew, Toby Lancett, are eager to have Thad charged and the case closed. Riley makes lots of missteps along the rocky way to solving the crime. Fans of comic light mysteries will be rewarded. [em]Agents: Emma Sweeney and Margaret Sutherland Brown, Emma Sweeney Agency. (Apr.) [/em]