Country Comes to Town: A Laura Fleming Mystery

Kelner brings a small-town atmosphere to Boston as computer programmer Laura Fleming, Kelner's Southern-born sleuth seen last in Trouble Looking for a Place to Happen (1995), hosts her country cousin Thaddeous. With her husband, Richard, out of town, Laura receives a surprise visit from college ex-boyfriend Philip Dennis, who's looking for temporary digs. After turning him away and picking up Thaddeous at the airport, Laura is horrified to learn that Philip has been found dead behind her apartment building. Having had previous sleuthing success in their hometown of Byerly, N.C., Laura and her cousin determine to find the killer. While Thaddeous nurses a budding romance with Laura's receptionist, Laura infiltrates Philip's company, which is made up of long-forgotten college friends from MIT. A second murder within the company offices confirms Laura's suspicions that one of her old friends is a killer. Greed and jealousy in the intricate world of computers provide a nonstop pace, slowed only occasionally by Thaddeous's Southern charm and Richard's annoying habit of quoting Shakespeare in every phone chat with Laura. (Sept.)