cover image A Cadger's Curse: A DD McGil Literati Mystery

A Cadger's Curse: A DD McGil Literati Mystery

Diane Gilbert Madsen, . . Midnight Ink, $14.95 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-7387-1892-7

Madsen's promising debut, the first in a new cozy series set in Chicago, introduces DD McGil, a 38-year-old freelance insurance investigator and former English professor who's a whiz at breaking and entering. Two days before Christmas, a case takes DD to a computer company, HI-Data, where she stumbles on the corpse of Ken Gordon, a partner at HI-Data who happens to be the half brother of DD's late fiancé, who apparently jumped to his death from a high balcony. Since DD despised Ken, she fears the police will suspect her of murder. Meanwhile, DD's Aunt Elizabeth (aka the Scottish Dragon) arrives for the holidays with what she claims is a rare Robert Burns manuscript. Tom Joyce, DD's antiquarian bookseller friend, offers to help with research into the manuscript. Well-drawn characters and a suspenseful plot will leave readers looking forward to the next installment. (Nov.)