cover image No Body: A Jenny Cain Mystery

No Body: A Jenny Cain Mystery

Nancy Pickard. Scribner Book Company, $13.95 (227pp) ISBN 978-0-684-18593-4

Like Pickard's Generous Death and Say No to Murder, the third story featuring Jenny Cain is fast-moving, sparked by humor and an unusual plot. Jenny, still serving as the head of the Port Frederick Civic Foundation, relates events that stun the population in her New England town when a mud slide reveals the disappearance of 133 bodies, supposedly interred during the 19th century in the old cemetery. At the same time, the corpse of Sylvia Davis is found in the casket with John Rudolph just before he's due to be buried in the new cemetery. The next day, Rudolph's widow is murdered, and Jenny sets out to gather evidence on possible killers. Her prime suspect is a young gravedigger and drug addict who dominates the center stage in macabre scenes before Jenny solves the puzzle of the town's vanished ancestors and identifies the present-day evildoer. Paperback rights to Pocket Books. (October 1)