cover image Dead Floating Lovers: An Emily Kincaid Mystery

Dead Floating Lovers: An Emily Kincaid Mystery

Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli, . . Midnight Ink, $14.95 (324pp) ISBN 978-0-7387-1265-9

In Buzzelli’s enjoyable sequel to 2008’s Dead Dancing Women , aspiring mystery novelist Emily Kincaid, who moved to rural northern Michigan to pursue her writing career, is making ends meet by contributing stories to the local newspaper. Among her fans is Deputy Dolly, of the Leetsville police department, who calls on Emily after receding lake waters reveal a human skeleton. Evidence links Dolly’s former husband to the bones, and her loyalty to him leads her to rash action. The growing closeness between the two women is one of the book’s strengths, as is Buzzelli’s portrayal of the local Odawa tribe. Determined to be independent, Emily lets her loneliness lead her into making some poor decisions regarding her charming ex-husband. Despite too many extraneous details (“There were dishes to scrape and pile into the dishwasher”), the plot hangs together and builds to a satisfactory conclusion. (July)