November 23, 2015
In this edgy first in a new cozy series from Costa (You Cannoli Die Once), Val Cameron, a senior editor at a New York publishing company, travels to the tiny town of Wendaban, Ontario, at the behest of her boss to sign Charles Cable, a reclusive author, to a contract. Local pilot Wade Decker takes Val, who feels very much out of her Manhattan element, to meet Charles and shows her the area, telling her a little about the community. Her instincts tell her there’s something suspicious about the death two years earlier of Wade’s wife, Leslie, and she begins to look into the connections with a summer camp and the man she came to see. A strong plot and engaging characters make for a well-crafted mystery, and Val’s humorous attempts to cope with the wilderness do much to lighten the tension. The core of the story is Val’s discovery of her own self-worth. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune Agency.