Secret Lives

This light and lively series launch from de Castrique (the Blackman Agency investigations) introduces 75-year-old Ethel Fiona Crestwater, a retired FBI agent who remains a legend among her former colleagues for her “myriad connections in both the Secret Service and the FBI, and a maestro’s skill to play those connections to her advantage.” Her comfortable Arlington, Va., home is affectionately referred to as “Ethel’s dormitory” by the government agents who have rented rooms from her over the years. When one roomer, Secret Service agent Jonathan Finch, is shot in front of her house, the feisty landlady steps into the role of action hero to find Finch’s killer and discover the reasons for his death. She’s assisted by Jesse Cooper, her double first cousin twice removed, who’s also staying with her while attending the American University in Washington, D.C., as well as former boarders Cory Bradshaw, head of the Secret Service, and Arlington police detective Frank Mancini. Petite but plucky Ethel is an elderly Nancy Drew: sure of herself and her convictions, and ready to bend a few rules to achieve her goal of seeing justice done. She’s off to a fine start. (Oct.)