All Things Murder

Quigley’s fun debut stars 53-year-old soap opera actress Veronica Walsh, newly unemployed after her show, Days and Nights, is canceled. Rather than grace commercials for hot-flash and osteoporosis meds, Veronica opts to return to her Adirondack hometown and help out with the family bookstore. However, she finds sleepy Barton, N.Y., as beset by drama as any daytime soap. Local merchants, including Veronica’s mother, are fervently opposing plans to build a mall nearby, fearing it will destroy Barton’s charming downtown. Veronica’s next-door neighbor, wealthy and abrasive widow Anna Langdon, takes action to thwart the developer—and then turns up bludgeoned to death with a skillet. As Veronica combs through a long suspect list, childhood chum Mark Burke and fellow former Days and Nights cast member Alex Shelby vie for her romantic attentions. Veronica is an entertaining, down-to-earth heroine, and the mix of smalltown coziness and small-screen glam will leave readers eagerly awaiting their next trip to Barton. (May)