A Trail of Lies

Logan’s so-so third Jazz Ramsey mystery (after 2020’s The Secret of Bones) opens with Jazz, an assistant administrator at Cleveland’s St. Catherine’s School for Girls, waking up to an early morning call from Kim, the mother of her police detective boyfriend, Nick Kolesov. The woman, in an alcohol-fueled tirade, demands that Jazz come to her house immediately, because there’s a dead man in her yard. When Jazz can find no body, she puts Kim’s claims down to too much bourbon. However, when a convicted murderer recently released on parole is found dead in a park near Kim’s house, Jazz and the police begin to take an interest in Kim’s story. Between preparing for the school dance and training her Airedale pup, Wally, to become a cadaver dog, Jazz investigates and discovers a shocking secret that will change her life and Nick’s. Uneven pacing, one-dimensional characters, and doings at the school that serve merely as padding make this a lesser effort. Cozy readers who are fond of dogs should be somewhat satisfied. Agent: Gail Fortune, Talbot Fortune. (May)