The Paradise Affair: A Carpenter and Quincannon Mystery

Set in 1898, MWA Grand Master Pronzini’s routine ninth mystery featuring San Francisco PIs Sabina Carpenter and John Quincannon (after 2020’s The Stolen Gold Affair) takes the married couple to Hawaii in pursuit of Jackson “Lonesome Jack” Vereen and E.B. Nagle (aka Nevada Ned), who duped an Oakland, Calif., businessman into investing thousands in a nonexistent silver mine. Quincannon focuses on tracking down the two grifters, a task that leads him to investigating multiple murders. Meanwhile, Carpenter becomes involved in a howdunit after Gordon Pettibone, the owner of an import-export bank, is found dead behind a locked door in his study. A loaded pistol next to Pettibone’s corpse makes accident or suicide the logical explanation. Carpenter probes deeper, but her efforts to show how someone could have entered the sealed room don’t generate much excitement. Pronzini has been better at evoking a past time and place. Series fans invested in the leads are most likely to appreciate this one. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary. (Jan.)