Shadows in Time: A Kendra Donovan Mystery

In McElwain’s unsatisfying fifth Kendra Donovan mystery (after 2019’s Betrayal in Time), Kendra, a 21st-century FBI profiler who was somehow transported to Regency England in her first outing, A Murder in Time, gets another opportunity to do some sleuthing. In 1816, Kendra agrees to help Mrs. Gavenston, a brewery owner, find her missing business manager, Jeremy Pascoe, despite doubting that the woman has been fully forthcoming. Kendra’s search for Pascoe leads to her finding him stabbed to death in a remote cottage. Meanwhile, the life of her guardian, the Duke of Aldridge, is upended by the appearance of a woman claiming to be his daughter, who was long-believed dead. McElwain doesn’t sweat the details. Kendra uses anachronistic jargon, referring to a murder suspect as an “unsub” without explaining that term, and the story does no more than touch on the dilemma of someone from the future trying to avoid changing history. Nothing in this entry bodes well for future series installments. Agent: Jill Grosjean, Jill Grosjean Literary. (Aug.)