Hour of Need

In this auspicious start to Leigh's latest romantic suspense series, sleepy Scarlet Falls, N.Y., is rocked by a shocking double homicide. Local lawyer Lee Barrett and his wife, figure skating coach Kate, are gunned down, orphaning their two young children. The cops alert the family's nearest relative, Maj. Grant Barrett, Lee's brother, who's currently deployed in Afghanistan. He hops the first flight back to the States to tend to the kids and his brother's affairs. His next-door neighbor, single mom Ellie Ross, works at the same law firm as Lee and met Grant when he visited a year ago. The attraction was palpable then, and it grows as they spend more time together. But there's little evidence to support the theory that the murder was a robbery gone wrong, and Ellie soon learns that the killer is still a threat%E2%80%94not only to her, but to her teen daughter and elderly grandmother. Leigh takes her time with this slow-burning fuse of a story, which builds with steady pressure on both the suspense and the romance. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Dec.)