Skating Under the Wire

Charbonneau’s fourth mystery featuring roller rink owner Rebecca Robbins (after 2012’s Skating on the Edge) relies heavily on the eccentricities of her cast of characters, including Rebecca’s spandex-loving grandfather and her con man photographer father, to carry the simplistic and somewhat implausible plot. Deputy Sean Holmes is willing to tolerate Rebecca’s amateur sleuthing as she looks into the annual Thanksgiving break-ins in Indian Falls, Ill., because of her successful record, but her snooping quickly becomes entangled with both the investigation of the murder of beloved senior Ginny Chapman by an insulin overdose and the machinations of her friend Danielle’s mother-in-law-to-be, who doesn’t like Rebecca’s involvement in the planning of Danielle’s wedding. For all their over-the-top antics, Rebecca’s friends and suspects come off as basically nice smalltown folk in a cozy that’s cute rather than uproarious. Agent: Stacia Decker, Donald Maass Literary Agency. (Oct.)