Death at Breakfast

This convivial if contrived series launch from Gutcheon (Gossip) introduces Maggie Detweiler, a newly retired school head, and her friend Hope Babbin, who book a stay at the Oquossoc Mountain Inn in Bergen, Maine, the home of Hope’s deputy sheriff son, Buster Babbin. Among the inn’s guests are the demanding Alex Antippas, a “megarich developer of shopping malls and suburban office parks,” and his wife, Lisa. Alex, who’s the father of the troubled pop star Artemis by his first wife, immediately bullies Cherry Weaver, the front desk clerk, and offends Gabriel Gurrell, the inn’s owner. Lisa’s yappy dog later causes more trouble. When Alex dies in a suspicious fire, Det. Shep Gordon fastens on Cherry as his chief suspect. Maggie and Hope shift into amateur-sleuth mode and find plenty of others at the inn with reason to kill Alex. At the women’s prodding, the amiable Buster assists in the search for the real culprit. Cozy fans who don’t mind gapping plot holes will be satisfied. Agent: Emma Sweeney, Emma Sweeney Agency. (May)