Out Comes the Evil

At the start of Cameron’s captivating sequel to Folly, widow Pam Gibbon, “a fit, attractive, sexual woman,” goes looking late one night for a lover of hers, Harry Stroud, at Ebring Manor, a ruined 14th-century house, in the quaint Cotswold village of Folly-on-Weir. Pam meets a bad end, but days pass before Alex Duggins, the owner of the Black Dog pub, and her handsome boyfriend, veterinarian Tony Harrison, discover Pam’s dismembered body at the bottom of a well near the ruined manor house. At the risk of irritating the local police, Alex investigates. Tony does his best to keep Alex safe, though the impetuous, unpredictable Alex has a tendency to get into tight fixes, such as the time she gets locked inside Harry’s house while doing some snooping. Various assaults and a second murder raise the stakes. An appealing heroine and an atmospheric setting make this romantic mystery a winner. Agent: Liza Dawson, Liza Dawson Associates. (Dec.)