Death in the Garden City

Dams’s tedious 22nd outing for retired American schoolteacher Dorothy Martin (after 2019’s A Dagger Before Me) takes Dorothy and her husband, retired police officer Alan Nesbitt, from England to Canada’s Vancouver Island to look into some nastiness that has come to the attention of retired Mountie John McKenzie. This includes the theft of poisonous plants from a botanical garden, fake letter bombs, the killing of kittens, and—once Dorothy and Alan arrive—the death of an ambitious computer programmer and her philanthropist boss, and the disappearance of the boss’s sexy sweetheart. How does Dorothy resolve all the mysteries that are swirling around her? As she tells Alan, “I just go bumbling around asking questions and annoying people, and somehow the two of us usually get there in the end.” Meanwhile, Dorothy complains about various old-age woes—recurrent backaches and the need for naps, reading glasses, and snacks to keep up her blood sugar level—and the rudeness of people in general. This one’s strictly for series fans. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Agency. (Feb.)