Death in Reel Time: A Family History Mystery

In Bonner’s entertaining second family history mystery (after 2013’s Paging the Dead), genealogists Sophreena McClure and Esme Sabatier dig into the past of Johnny Hargett, the father of Olivia Clement, a longtime friend of them both. Hargett, a WWII draft dodger, was last seen hopping a train headed for parts west of their hometown of Morningside, N.C., 60-plus years earlier. That’s mystery #1. Mystery #2 is the murder of Olivia’s son-in-law. Sophreena and Esme aren’t supposed to get involved in police matters, but between Esme’s friendship with Det. Denton Carlson and the possibility that this murder is vaguely reminiscent of something from the victim’s past, it’s hard for them to resist. A film from 1941 that eerily foreshadows current events further draws the pair in. Fans of light mysteries will enjoy the sufficiently quirky characters and a plot peppered with an equally satisfactory number of solid clues and red herrings. Agent: Cynthia Manson, Cynthia Manson Literary Agency. (Mar.)