Millicent’s Tower

Children’s poet and novelist Rikel (A Book for All Seasons) makes her adult mystery debut with this engaging cozy. Well-intentioned Rochelle Gallager and her family have finally gone to see elderly Aunt Millicent in her opulent mansion, Perkins Place, in the mountains of Appalachia’s Cumberland Plateau. On arrival, Rochelle is disheartened to find the grounds overgrown and the house permeated with well-used cat litter, but ornery Aunt Millicent is also less than enthused to have visitors. Soon, the wealthy and mistrustful woman is found dead in her beloved tower, causing all the spurned people from her past to gather. They are disappointed, however, to discover no sign of the stacks of cash Millicent was rumored to keep in the house. Rikel, who has a clear prose style, wisely chooses to set events in 1982, leaving her characters to rely on their ingenuity rather than up-to-date technology to crack the case. (Jan.)