The Alphabet Sleuths

Walker (the Bookish Baker Mysteries) launches an entertaining new cozy series starring a spirited group of California retirees. When 69-year-old Claire Reynolds, a resident of the Cedar Glen Retirement Community in Santa Bonita, happens upon a man violently choking her friend Daphne, she accidentally kills him by whacking him on the back of the head with her gardening shovel. Once the shock of the situation wears off, retired police officer Daphne recognizes her assailant from an organized crime case she worked on years earlier. Instead of calling the authorities, she and Claire recruit their friends in a clique they’ve dubbed the Alphabet Girls—retired journalist Atsuko and former actor Barbara—to help them dispose of the body. The women wrap the corpse in a blanket and toss him into the water at the bottom of a quarry. Then another resident of Cedar Glen turns up dead, and the Alphabet Girls launch an investigation to figure out what’s behind the sudden uptick of violence in their typically idyllic corner of the world. Walker’s feisty, funny, and fully realized seniors easily sit beside the casts of The Thursday Murder Club and The Marlow Murder Club in the cozy pantheon. Readers will be charmed. Agent: Vicky Weber, Creative Media Agency. (Feb.)