Death on a Starry Night: A Nora Barnes and Toby Sandler Mystery

Draine and Hinden’s middling third outing for Nora Barnes and Toby Sandler (after 2014’s The Body in Bodega Bay) takes art historian Nora and her antiques-dealer husband, Toby, from Bodega Bay, Calif., to Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. At an international Van Gogh conference, elderly Isabelle La Font, whose grandfather knew Van Gogh, will be making the case that the great artist was murdered. But before the espresso cups can be cleared at the opening dinner, Isabelle’s body is found partially submerged in the village fountain. The local gendarmes press Nora to snoop on fellow academics. Unfortunately, most of the suspects are ill-tempered, backstabbing, and yet remarkably uninteresting. Along for the ride is Nora’s younger sister, Angie, a postulant with weaknesses for smooth-talking men and taking phonetic whacks at the French language. Well before the climactic showdown at an Alpine monastery, readers may want to bid the book, as Angie might put it, “ady-yew.” (Apr.)