Callous

Early in this propulsive standalone from Edgar finalist Bruen (the Jack Taylor series), Brooklyn resident Kate Mitchell, who’s struggling to kick a heroin habit, wakes up from an alcohol-induced bender to find a letter from an Irish lawyer informing her that her 79-year-old aunt, Mary Casey, has died and left Kate a cottage in the Galway village of Claddagh. Hoping for a fresh start, Kate leaves Brooklyn with her two surviving brothers: one a priest and former police officer, the other a hotheaded ex-Marine. In Galway, they learn their aunt was murdered. Mary was approached by Dio Ortiz, a drug dealer with ties to a cartel, who was procuring houses to use as meth labs in Claddagh. When Dio saw a photo of Kate on Mary’s mantel, he thought Kate resembled his obsession, opera singer Maria Callas, and killed Mary in the hope that would bring Kate to Galway, “where he’d woo her.” The Mitchells soon find themselves on the receiving end of a campaign of intimidation. Lively characters and the author’s trademark wit compensate for the convoluted plot. Bruen fans will clamor for more. Agent: Lukas Ortiz, Philip G. Spitzer Agency. (Sept.)