Disturbing the Dark: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery

Edgar-winner Hornsby’s captivating 10th Maggie MacGowen mystery (after 2014’s The Color of Light) finds the L.A.-based filmmaker and her crew working on an agricultural documentary at her family’s farm in Normandy, France. When the skeletal remains of more than a dozen German soldiers stationed in the area during the Nazi occupation are unearthed, the discovery spurs a media frenzy, especially after one of the Germans is identified. How these men came to die is known only to the few surviving local matriarchs, including Maggie’s 92-year-old grandmother. As the deceased’s relatives search for answers, war memorabilia dealers hope to secure salable items buried with the dead soldiers. When Maggie stumbles on a missing university student lying dead in a carrot field, she becomes involved with the subsequent murder investigation, assisted by her well-connected French boyfriend, Jean-Paul. Descriptions of the charming and historic Normandy region, including details of delicious home-cooked meals, provide welcome relief from the accounts of past and present crimes. (Apr.)