A Deceptive Homecoming

Poignant backstory, historical color, and expert pacing distinguish this mystery, the fourth featuring secretary Hattie Davish (after 2014’s A Sense of Entitlement) and the best yet in Loan-Wilsey’s 19th-century cozy series. Hattie receives an anonymous letter containing a newspaper obituary for Frank Hayward, father of a girlhood chum and bookkeeper at Hattie’s alma mater, Mrs. Chaplin’s School for Women. Driven home to St. Joseph, Mo., for the first time since her father’s tragic death, she finds Mrs. Chaplin’s plagued by disturbing incidents, including financial irregularities implicating Frank. Worse, lack of a characteristic scar suggests that the accident-disfigured body at the funeral isn’t his. Her investigation of Frank’s whereabouts, the corpse’s identity, and the school’s troubles winds through a local insane asylum, the site of Jesse James’s death, and her own unresolved past. As always, Loan-Wilsey’s thorough research grounds the lively plot in the era’s rich history. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency. (Aug.)