Kappy King and the Pickle Kaper

The death of 19-year-old Sally June Esh, who was driving a pickle delivery wagon when she was hit by a car on a rural road in Blue Sky, Pa., kick starts Lillard’s middling sequel to 2017’s Kappy King and the Puppy Kaper. The day after the tragedy, puppy breeder Edie Peachey, who was raised Amish but later left the church, receives an anonymous text message: “Some accidents are not accidents.” Convinced this is a reference to the fatal buggy crash, Edie persuades her friend Kathryn “Kappy” King, with whom she did some sleuthing in the previous book, to go to Sally June’s funeral to look for anyone who might have wished the young woman harm. Kappy soon has a number of suspects, including Bettie Hershberger, who’s intent on making her green pickles more popular than the Esh family’s white ones. The mutual attraction between Edie and Jack Jones, the detective on the case, generates a little romantic tension, as does Kappy’s interest in two Amish men. Appealing characters make up only in part for the slow pace and lack of suspense. Agent: Mary Sue Seymour, Seymour Agency. (July)