A Widow’s Curse: A Fever Devilin Mystery

Welsh legends, ghosts, a Cherokee artifact, a valuable portrait—all combine in unexpected but ingenious ways in Shamus-finalist DePoy’s fourth Fever Devilin mystery (after 2005’s A Minister’s Ghost), set in the Georgia Appalachians. In past adventures, the folklorist and failed academic has helped Sheriff “Skid” Skidmore investigate murders involving strangers, but this time trouble directly involves Fever’s family and heritage, which makes it worse for him and better for the reader. A phone call about an unusual silver medallion purchased from someone in the town of Blue Mountain prompts Fever to invite the caller to visit. When the caller ends up dead in Fever’s cabin, Fever has no choice but to untangle the twisted origins of the medallion even when it leads deep into his own family’s somewhat sordid past. Adept at clever word play, DePoy has a comfortable command of his characters, their land and their history. (July)