A Deadly Measure of Brimstone: A Dandy Gilver Mystery

Set in 1929, McPherson’s solid eighth Dandy Gilver mystery (after 2013’s Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses) finds the British PI considering a stay at a medical facility for strength rebuilding purposes after she and other family members suffer a bout of flu. Coincidentally, prospective clients Herbert Addie and Mrs. James Bowie suspect that their mother, Enid, was murdered at just such a facility in the town of Moffat about a month earlier. Oddly, Enid died suddenly, despite being in overall good health, and the doctor who was treating her for an injured back didn’t sign her death certificate. Dandy uses the new case as an excuse to bring her entourage with her to Moffat, where the local sergeant tells her that Enid reported being frightened by a ghost shortly before she died. The plucky lead compensates for some heavy-handed foreshadowing and a windup that isn’t McPherson’s strongest. [em]Lisa Moylett, Coombs Moylett Literary Agency. (Nov.) [/em]