Murdered, My Sweet

They're not always deep and they're not always tense, but there's something comfortingly familiar about Edgar winner Nixon's (The Other Side of Dark) sure-footed mystery novels. Her fans will be right at home with her latest, in which a teen manages to solve a crime and give the credit to her ditzy mother, a famous mystery writer. Jenny Jakes and her mom travel to San Antonio for the rather unorthodox reading of her still-living millionaire cousin's will. No sooner do they arrive than bodies start to fall. With two murders to solve and several disgruntled relatives as suspects, Jenny helps her mom and an obliging police detective to track the killers. Complicating her life is the charming Carlos, a bellboy who seems unusually interested in Jenny's actions--is he just a potential boyfriend, or something more sinister? Although the plot is somewhat predictable, Jenny, her mother and Carlos at least are lively characters, and there's some welcome (and insightful) humor in their relationships. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)