Silver Moon Rising (Detective Bourque #2)

Potter’s atmospheric second procedural featuring Lt. Ivy Bourque of the Massachusetts Cape & Islands Detective Unit (after The Color Red) is even better than its predecessor. At the outset, Bourque is called to Martha’s Vineyard to help locate Daniel Fitzgerald, the handsome young scion of a powerful New England dynasty, who vanished during a nighttime ferry crossing. After investigators find Daniel floating in the water with a knife in his heart, Ivy learns that he had recently severed ties with his family and devoted himself to various social causes, including cleaning up the Appalachian Trail, fighting climate change, and protecting whales. His protest methods occasionally got him in trouble with the law and courted controversy. When more people—some linked to Daniel—are stabbed to death, Ivy must figure out which of Daniel’s enemies, including Massachusetts politicians and corporate whaling interests, are angry enough to kill. Potter spends worthwhile time illustrating how Ivy’s background in organic chemistry benefits her investigative work, and evokes his brackish, blood-soaked setting with aplomb. This series continues to impress. (Sept.)