A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall

In Dennison’s winning third Honeychurch Hall mystery (after 2015’s Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall), antiques expert Kat Stanford and her mother, Iris, discover a double-hide, a secret room behind a secret room, containing the earthly remains of Pandora Haslam-Grimley, last seen alive in 1958 at the Honeychurch midsummer ball. The cold case takes a personal turn for Kat when the police suspect that Iris may have had a hand in Pandora’s death. With an art theft, an incriminating copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, heart-shaped necklaces, a hidden cache of silver coins, and failed love affairs galore, the convoluted plot takes some effort to follow, and it’s sometimes hard to keep the relationships among all the players straight. The joy of this series lies in its delightfully eccentric characters, including the ever-surprising Iris, aka Krystalle Storm, bestselling author of steamy romance novels, and Kat herself, a smart, relatable heroine with questionable taste in men. Dennison’s affection for Devonshire, its history and people, is obvious on every page. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. (May)