cover image False Pretences: An Abbot Agency Mystery

False Pretences: An Abbot Agency Mystery

Veronica Heley, . . Severn, $28.95 (218pp) ISBN 978-0-7278-6833-6

In Heley's engaging fourth Abbot Agency mystery (after 2009's False Step ), Bea's young live-in female assistant, Maggie, asks the London detective to help her ex-boyfriend, Zander. Zander feels responsible for the fatal heart attack that felled Denzil, his boss at the charitable Tudor Trust, because it was he, Zander, who discovered Denzil was scamming the organization. Now Zander, who's of mixed race, has to return some personal items to Denzil's bigoted widow, Honoria. A rude, bullying woman, Honoria threatens to sue the trust for the defamation of her husband's character. Oliver, Bea's other young live-in assistant, does a little high-tech digging in quest of the truth, while Bea must try to placate elderly Lord Murchison, a member of the trust's board, who faces ruin if the truth comes out. Heley's cast of intriguing characters from every walk of life will please British cozy fans. (Apr.)