A Wild Ride: A Madeline Maclin Mystery

Set in Celosia, N.C., Tesh’s busy sixth Madeline Maclin mystery (after 2016’s Evil Turns) finds the former beauty queen turned private eye seeking the thief who stole paintings from a museum that were intended for an exhibit of local artists, including Madeline. Meanwhile, Madeline prepares members of the motorcycle gang Helen’s Angels for the Miss Streetwise pageant, and she drops in uninvited to man-eater Roxanna Deluca’s wedding to a mysterious millionaire. In addition, Madeline’s poet houseguest figures out how to overcome his writer’s block, and her troublesome mother finds a potential love interest. Dogging Madeline’s footsteps is her video Boswell, Jake Banner, who wants to make her a YouTube star with a series called From Crown to Crime. Her investigative technique largely consists of talking to people and showing up at the right time to hear a spontaneous confession, and a kidnapping doesn’t do much to compensate for the lack of genuine action. This is strictly for fans who have grown fond of the denizens of Celosia. (May)