Public relations guru Sasha Solomon, introduced in The Clovis Incident
(2004), has her hands full in Agatha-nominee Taichert's suspenseful sequel. Sasha has been hired to help the small town of Belen, N.Mex., rethink its approach to tourism. The town's main attraction is a controversial artist, Phillipa "Philly" Petty, who happens to be Sasha's mother's best friend. Sasha swings by Philly's house only to find the woman dead. It turns out she was poisoned—just after she wrote a new will, naming Sasha's mom, Hannah, her heir. Hannah begs her daughter to track down the killer. Suspects include Philly's erstwhile lover, her maid and the chamber of commerce director (who appreciated the attention Phillipa drew to Belen but was personally offended by her paintings). When she's not sleuthing, Sasha dabbles in romance. The cop in charge of Philly's murder is predictably hunky and single, and Sasha's equally attractive physician plies his patient with plenty of attention, too. Taichert provides all the ingredients for a bang-up regional cozy. (Sept.)
