Murder, by George: A Veronica Walsh Mystery

In Quigley’s lively second Veronica Walsh mystery (after 2014’s All Things Murder), architect Scott Culverson pays $10 for a vintage box at a flea market in the Adirondack town of Barton. Inside the box is a small painting of Barton’s main street by the eminent mid-20th-century painter George Bradshaw. There’s also a letter from George, dating to 1925, addressed to a lost love. A dispute immediately breaks out among various onlookers, including the seller of the box, over ownership of the valuable painting. When someone later cuts Scott’s throat with a cheese knife and the love letter disappears, spunky Veronica, retired soap opera queen, joins the investigation, despite warnings from her handsome new beau, professor Mark Burke, not to get involved. Clues pop up in the middle of such events as a bang-up Halloween Ball, a canasta party, and a mansion luncheon. Cozy fans will enjoy trying to keep up with Veronica as she seeks to identify a killer amid the many likely suspects. (May)