cover image Darkness, Sing Me a Song

Darkness, Sing Me a Song

David Housewright. Minotaur, $25.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-09447-6

In Edgar-winner Housewright’s welcome fourth outing for St. Paul, Minn., PI Holland Taylor, last seen in 1999’s Dearly Departed, Holland tries to clear wealthy client Eleanor Barrington of fatally shooting Emily Denys, who was dating her son, Joel. The evidence is against Eleanor: she threatened to kill Emily, who was struck by a bullet from a nine-millimeter handgun, a weapon that Eleanor purchased years before, though it’s now missing. Complications follow. Joel accuses his mother of the murder and of sexually abusing him; a neighbor claims that she saw Eleanor shoot Emily in the head; and the identity of the victim, whose past is shrouded in mystery, comes into question. A connection between Emily’s murder and that of the mayor of Arona, Wis., puts Holland on a trail that involves a fracking company and a group of right-wing extremists. Meanwhile, Holland has to deal with Devon, Eleanor’s volatile 16-year-old daughter, who seems to have a crush on him. The knots are many and messy, and Holland shows he has the wit and character to untangle them. Agent: Alison Picard, Alison J. Picard Agency. (Jan.)