False Wall: A Bea Abbot Agency Mystery

Bea Abbot faces a host of problems in Heley’s muddled 10th mystery featuring the domestic agency proprietress (after 2015’s False Impression). First, the brick wall that separates her suburban London property from that of her multibillionaire fiancé, Leon Holland, suddenly collapses, knocking over a sycamore tree and leaving her garden devastated. Soon afterward, the police find human remains in Leon’s garden. At a party at another neighbor’s house, someone drugs Bea’s drink. In a panic, Bea goes in search of Leon, only to look out a window and see that her house is on fire. She later worries that if she has to leave her damaged home, she’ll have no agency—and no income. Both resolute and needy, Bea must rely on her detection skills and her friends’ help to determine who’s got it in for her and why. Though everything fits together in the end, too many characters with multiple agendas make for an incoherent puzzle. [em](Apr.) [/em]