Pretty Dead Things

This slow-moving cozy from West (a pseudonym for Good Will author Tiffany Killoren) finds bride-to-be Cora stumbling on a decades-old mystery when she moves to the Midwest with her fiancé. With her future mother-in-law commandeering the wedding plans , Cora has plenty of free time to explore Hickory Falls, her new hometown. At an estate sale, she comes across a jar filled with colorful baubles and, on impulse, buys it. Amid the old marbles and buttons, Cora discovers a wedding ring, and in her quest to find out whose it was, she stirs up tensions among Hickory Falls’ longtime residents. The ring may have belonged to Clarity Shaw, whose story unfolds in alternating chapters: in the early 1950s, Clarity disappeared from Hickory Falls, sparking rumors that she was a witch, and that she left her husband for a much richer man. Cora, unconvinced by the urban legends, grows obsessed with finding out what really happened to Clarity. Unfortunately, the baggy narrative doesn’t reflect the intensity of Cora’s obsession, burning too many pages on wedding planning and overly detailed exposition. Flat characters don’t help matters. This misses the mark. Agent: Stephanie Hansen, Metamorphosis Literary. (Dec.)