A Body to Spare: An Odelia Gray Mystery

Odelia Grey’s moniker as “corpse magnet” continues to hold true in Jaffarian’s offbeat 10th mystery to feature the plus-size paralegal (after 2014’s Hell on Wheels). Odelia is nonplussed when car wash employees in Long Beach, Calif., find a naked body with a taunting note in the trunk of her car. The victim turns out to be Zak Finch, the target of a kidnapping eight years before. As the police are disinclined to believe Odelia’s protestations of ignorance about the man or the murder, she begins to look at the circumstances around Zak’s disappearance and the troubled dynamics of his family and associates. Soon another corpse appears, as well as a spindly intruder intent on making a media splash at Odelia’s expense. She begins to fear that someone she knows may be involved with the case. Although established fans are the best audience for this outing, the suspenseful climax offers some unexpected turns for everyone. Agent: Whitney Lee, Fielding Agency. (Nov.)