Outside Eden: A Harper Jennings Mystery

Jones’s appealing fourth Harper Jennings mystery (after 2012’s Winter Break) opens in a teeming Jerusalem market place where a determined killer is stalking his prey, a benighted American tourist. Meanwhile, Harper, a feisty archeologist and traumatized Iraq war veteran, thinks she, husband Hank, and baby daughter will have a relaxing stay as they attend an international symposium in Jerusalem. When Harper and her Israeli nanny find the body of a Muslim in a Christian area, they inadvertently discover that both the Muslim and the earlier American victim were murdered in exactly the same manner. Hoping to escape the tension of being part of a police investigation, Harper, her baby, and the surprisingly assertive nanny leave Jerusalem with Hank’s blessing and join an archeological dig at Tel Megiddo. Unsettling events near the site raise the ante, but the story spins out of control as it approaches the frenzied and chaotic conclusion. Agent: Rebecca Strauss, McIntosh & Otis. (Aug.)