Hide & Snoop: An Odelia Grey Mystery

Odelia Grey resents her arrogant new boss, Erica Mayfield, sticking her with a weekend babysitting job in Jaffarian’s enormously entertaining seventh cozy featuring the plus-size Southern California paralegal (after 2011’s Twice as Dead). But drudgery turns to delight as Odelia and her wheelchair-bound hubby, Greg Stevens, fall head-over-heels for Erica’s three-year-old niece, Lily, whose mother, Connie Holt, dumped the girl on Erica, then disappeared. When Erica vanishes, Odelia ends up doing some snooping in Erica’s house, where she discovers Connie’s body lying in a pool of blood. That a fiery auto crash took out Lily’s dad suggests that the Holt family harbors a dangerous secret. Odelia must not only find a killer but also hold on to her job at her law firm, which is laying off people after merging with another firm. Despite the ho-hum title, this entry offers tight plotting, first-class humor, and vivid descriptions. Agent: Whitney Lee. (Sept.)