Swiss Vendetta

Police detective Agnes Lüthi tackles her first homicide case in de Hahn’s absorbing debut. Felicity Cowell, a British art assessor with a sordid past, has been killed at an elegant lakeside estate near Lausanne, Switzerland. When a blizzard descends, Agnes and other investigators become trapped at Château Vallotton with the aristocratic Vallotton family, their guests and servants, as well as an elderly neighbor, the charming Vladimir Arsov, who fought with the French Resistance during WWII. De Hahn sets up a locked-room mystery with potential for rich interpersonal tensions. The rarefied, restrictive world of Swiss aristocracy provides a tantalizing backdrop, and Agnes—born to American parents, raised in Switzerland, and a widowed mother of three sons after her husband’s recent suicide—is a strong series lead. Coincidences abound, but those who like a fireside read on a winter night will be pleased. Agent: Paula Munier, Talcott Notch Literary Services. (Feb.)