The Matchmaker

In this well-constructed novel of romantic suspense from prolific bestseller Denton (Valentine Fantasy ), former FBI profiler Greer Garson Lomax, who's recovering from a mishandled serial-killer case that left her estranged from her husband, has moved to sleepy Magnolia, N.C., to turn an old mansion into a B and B. When Greer becomes a deputy sheriff to pay the bills, she's assigned to investigate "the Matchmaker," an escaped con who has assumed a new identity as funeral home mogul Parker Hennessy. Hennessy is suspected of using an online dating service to lure female victims as "soulmates" to accompany dead men on their final destination—his interment parks. As the body count rises, Greer and her older sister, Vivien Lee, become targets. Crisp dialogue and likable characters propel the plot. (Nov.)