The Old Deep and Dark

Hart’s engrossing 22nd Jane Lawless mystery (after 2013’s Taken by the Wind) finds the Minneapolis PI and restaurateur working with her attorney father to determine who shot country singer Jordan Deere. Jordan had just written an autobiographical novel that threatened to end his career, destroy his family, and ruin his close friends, so suspects abound. Meanwhile, Jane’s best friend, Cordelia Thorn, is horrified to discover three skeletons in the bricked-up walls and hidden rooms of the “Old Deep and Dark,” the theater and former speakeasy she’s renovating. Forensic examination shows the three were killed by the same weapon as Jordan. As the savvy Jane investigates both cases, she also confronts uncomfortable questions about her girlfriend, Avi Greenberg, whose behavior is becoming increasingly erratic. Hart develops characters and backstory enough to orient readers new to the series without miring them in previous complications. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary. (Oct.)