A Good Killing

Readers who like their legal thrillers with a heavy dose of romance will appreciate Leotta’s fourth Anna Curtis mystery (after 2013’s Speak of the Devil). Anna, a veteran sex-crimes prosecutor in Washington, D.C., has called off her wedding after the shattering discovery of her fiancé’s infidelity. Conveniently, her return to her hometown of Holly Grove, Mich., to defend her sister, Jody, from a murder charge reintroduces her to an old high school friend, Cooper Bolden, who has transformed from a “skinny boy with knobby knees” to a former Army Ranger “with a chest like a Ford 350.” Jody is accused of killing Owen Fowler, a beloved high school coach, supposedly because he wanted to break off their reputed affair. Anna wrangles permission from the Justice Department to serve as her sibling’s defense attorney, and, aided by Cooper, vigorously looks for other suspects. A melodramatic denouement won’t be to every taste. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (May)