Slugfest: A Dirty Business Mystery

Harris's lively third Dirty Business mystery (after 2010's Dead Head) takes gardening professional Paula Holliday from Springfield, Conn., to Manhattan for the Big Apple Flower Show. Held at the old Wagner Center, a more intimate venue than the Javits Center, the show gets off to a bumpy start when an overnight worker dies after falling down an escalator and breaking his neck. When Garland Bleimeister, a show attendee who left his bag with Paula at her booth, turns up dead in the Hudson River, it's clearly a case of foul play. Paula helps security guard Rolanda Knox investigate possible suspects, including high school botanist Jamal Harrington, fashionista convention director Kristi Reynolds, and various exhibitors who may have been staging destructive "Javits Curse" pranks. The New York City locale makes for a refreshing, if temporary, change of scene from rural Connecticut in a series sure to appeal to fans of Susan Wittig Albert. (May)