Bridge of Sighs

Coroner Martha Gunn and Det. Insp. Alex Randall have a solid working relationship, though their personal friendship is a bit trickier, as shown in Masters’s unsettling and underwhelming seventh mystery set in Shrewsbury, England (after 2015’s Recalled to Death). As Martha admits to herself, they are “much closer than was right and proper for a widowed coroner and a married policeman.” When Alex’s wife takes a fatal fall down the stairs under suspicious circumstances, he’s relieved of his duties, and Martha must investigate alone the perplexing suicide of Gina Marconi. Why would beautiful and successful Gina kill herself on the eve of her wedding to a celebrated journalist? A short while later, 12-year-old Patrick Elson jumps to his death from a highway overpass. At one point, while seeking a link between the two cases, Martha puts herself in danger with no backup, but Alex shows up in the nick of time to save her. The potential for a full-blown romance between the protagonists overshadows the twisted machinations behind the suicides. This one’s for series fans only. Agent: Juliet Burton, Juliet Burton Literary (U.K.). (Feb.)