Treacherous Strand: An Inishowen Mystery

At the start of Carter’s melodramatic sequel to 2015’s Death at Whitewater Church, solicitor Benedicta “Ben” O’Keefe, who has settled recently in the town of Glendara on Ireland’s Inishowen Peninsula, visits a crime scene. The day before, Marguerite Etienne, Ben’s yoga teacher, came to the solicitor’s office asking Ben to prepare her will. Ben recognized that the woman was nervous, but nevertheless put her off until the next day. Now Marguerite’s body has washed ashore in a nearby town. The local police say the death is a suicide, a verdict that Ben refuses to believe. Racked by guilt, she decides to investigate. This takes the form of gossiping with all and sundry and putting herself in danger a time or two. International cults, incest, adultery, blackmail, bullying, overbearing land developers, and Ben’s tenuous love life are but a few of the elements that figure in the jumbled plot. Despite the occasional gore and an overabundance of certifiably deranged suspects, this basically gentle mystery will appeal to cozy readers with a fondness for soap opera. Agent: Kerry Glencorse, Susanna Lea Assoc. (Sept.)