Death in Salem

Kuhns’s solid fourth mystery set in the late 18th century (after 2014’s Cradle to Grave) takes weaver and private detective Will Rees from his home in Maine to Salem, Mass., to buy cloth for his wife, Lydia, but he’s soon detained by an old friend, Stephen “Twig” Eaton, who saved his life during the War for Independence. Twig’s beloved servant, Xenobia, has been arrested for the stabbing murder of Jacob Boothe, a prosperous Salem merchant, and he wants Rees to exonerate her. Not everyone welcomes Rees’s probing into Boothe’s personal and business affairs as he looks for motives for the crime. The killer doesn’t stop with just one victim, increasing the pressure on Rees to close the case. Lydia joins him in Salem and assists with his inquiries, even as she fears that he’s risking his life unnecessarily. Evocative descriptions of Salem, especially of the whaling industry, make up for a whodunit plot less crafty than the author’s usual. [em]Agent: Mitchell S. Waters, Curtis Brown. (June) [/em]