Front Page Murder: A Hometown News Mystery

Set in 1942, this entertaining series launch from St. Anthony (the Brewing Trouble mysteries) introduces Irene Ingram, the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Progress, Pa., a job she took over from her father after he left for the Pacific to be a war correspondent. When beauty shop owner Ava Dempsey phones Irene to say Sam Markowicz’s hardware store across the street has just been robbed, Irene sends reporter Moe Bauer to investigate. Irene later learns that the hardware store wasn’t robbed, but someone did leave an anti-Semitic message for Sam, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, written on a piece of cardboard. When Moe fails to show up to interview either Ava or Sam, Irene goes to Moe’s house, where she finds him dead at the foot of his cellar stairs. What appears to be an accident turns into a murder case. St. Anthony splendidly evokes the era through such details as the town’s victory garden and Woolworth’s lunch counter as she highlights the impact of the war on traditional women’s roles. Fans of Jacqueline Winspear will want to see more of the talented and intelligent Irene. Agent: Melissa Jeglinski, Knight Agency. (Mar.)