Jacob's Ladder

In Lynn's unconvincing second Shady Grove mystery (after 2006's Down by the Riverside), Rose Franklin, who's settled in at the West Memphis, Ark., campsite since her divorce, discovers an elderly Zuni Indian man strangled to death in his camper the day after he pulls in at the campground. While waiting for the police to arrive, Rose finds a silver bracelet near the crime scene and pockets the trinket instead of mentioning it to the sheriff. Later Rose decides to return the bracelet to the scene of the crime, but rather than drop the bracelet, she hides in the camper when she hears people approaching. To her distress, someone drives the vehicle away from the campsite. This episode is symptomatic of Rose's heedless actions, as she ignores blatant clues, trusting navely when she should be more suspicious. Seasoned mystery readers will likely find Rose's feckless detecting more irritating than believable.