Murder to the Metal: A Somebody’s Bound to Wind Up Dead Mystery

Set in Cleveland, Ohio, Hogsett’s amusing sequel to 2017’s Too Lucky to Live finds part-time librarian Allie Harper, who does narrative duty, and her companion, Thomas Bennington III, a professor who won a $550 million lottery jackpot in the previous book, ensconced in a rented 9,000 sq. ft. mansion overlooking Lake Erie. What are a newly and wildly rich couple to do? Why not start the T&A Detective Agency? They are handed their first case when Loretta Coates, a librarian friend of Allie’s, asks Allie to find her boyfriend, Lloyd Bunker, who has vanished without a trace, as has his classic 1967 GTO. As Allie and Tom investigate, they discover that Lloyd’s disappearance is connected to a web of other misdeeds that could spell trouble for themselves. A clever explanation for the crimes helps compensate for some lame sleuthing: many of the clues are discovered solely due to happenstance or are laid in place by Cleveland cop Tony Valerio, an unofficial T&A member. Readers who don’t mind slapdash detecting will look forward to spending more time in Allie’s likable company. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. (June)