Trust Issues

Keenan and Wands (In Case of Emergency, as E.G. Scott) team up again for a lively page-turner that quickly morphs from a murder mystery into a breakneck caper. Hazel and Kagan Bailey are testy 30-something siblings who’ve already squandered most of the money their mother, Janice, gave them. When Janice remarries her charming ex-husband, Perry, Hazel and Kagan smell a rat. Then Janice dies from a supposedly accidental fall and Perry cuts Hazel and Kagan out of her will. Though the Baileys are sure Perry killed their mother, he manages to point law enforcement toward the spoiled siblings instead—and then he disappears altogether. To help find him, Hazel and Kagan track down his daughter, Ava, who’s just been released from prison for committing cybercrimes. They also loop in Hazel’s boyfriend, Habitat for Humanity volunteer Adam. The group’s search takes them from New York City to Florida, revealing secret allegiances among their ranks along the way. McCullough and Wands keep things fleet and frivolous, stocking the narrative with an array of genuine surprises en route to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion. It’s a trip worth taking. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (Jan.)