Criminal justice professor Lizabeth Stuart investigates her paternity and her long-lost mother's checkered past in Bailey's fourth mystery (after 2003's Old Murders
), a story rich in history if not suspense. Raised by her grandparents in Drucilla, Ky., Lizzie never knew her mother, Becca Hayes, who abandoned her at birth. Now 39 years old and on the verge of engagement to her boyfriend, police officer John Quinn, Lizzie is especially determined to understand her past. With help from Quinn and PI Kyle Sheppard, she connects her mother to Chicago gangster Nick Mancini, who was stabbed to death in 1969. After 22-year-old Becca, who was Nick's girlfriend and the chief suspect, disappeared without a trace, musician Robert Montgomery confessed to the crime. Decades later, Lizzie's effort to track down the key players in this drama takes her from her home in Gallagher, Va., to Chicago; Wilmington, N.C.; and finally New Orleans. New readers might wish for more character development, but series fans should be pleased. Author tour. (Apr.)
