Blood, Ash, and Bone: A Tai Randolph Mystery

Tai Randolph gets mixed up in the world of fanatical collectors in Whittle’s lively third mystery featuring the Atlanta gun shop operator (after 2012’s Darker than Any Shadow), thanks to her decision to help an ex-boyfriend retrieve a missing Civil War relic—a King James Bible inscribed to General Sherman from President Lincoln. Some collectors are simply obsessed with owning valuable things, but others—such as members of the spruced-up, squeaky-clean-looking Ku Klux Klan—feed on the racist rage that saturates certain historical memorabilia. Impulsive and open-minded, Tai is the opposite of her lover, damaged and emotionally guarded security expert Trey Seaver, who dubiously watches the proceedings at a Civil War expo in Savannah, Ga., where Tai pursues her investigation. As the action shifts unpredictably and the prize turns out to be quite different than either Tai or Trey supposed, Whittle skillfully shows her characters discovering how much they can trust each other. (Mar.)