Black Valley

A plucky heroine is the best part of this sequel to The House on the Cliff from Williams, who died in 2014. Welsh psychotherapist Jessica Mayhew is intrigued by a new client, artist Elinor Powell, who suffers from claustrophobia and feelings of guilt after finding the body of her mother, a murder victim. As Jessica becomes embroiled in Elinor’s world, she connects with Jacob Dresler, an art critic, with whom she begins a passionate affair. When Jessica and Jacob go away for a romantic weekend to an area of the Welsh countryside where Elinor said she would be camping, someone dies. Jessica tries to figure out what’s going on, but Jacob dismisses her theories. Jessica’s choice to investigate solo leads to her making some poor, credibility-straining decisions. Williams’s breezy style and her well-rendered details of rural Wales compensate for the mystery’s overall lack of suspense. With Williams gone, this is presumably the last in the series. Agent: Peter Straus, Rogers, Coleridge & White (U.K.). (June)