Playing the Devil

In Lee’s entertaining sequel to 2019’s Grand Slam Murders, investigative reporter Wendy Winchester is playing bridge at the Rosalie (Miss.) Country Club when a storm causes a power outage, permitting someone to do in the town bully, Brent Ogle, in the club’s outdoor hot tub. Brent’s long-suffering wife, who discovers the body, alerts Wendy, who phones her police chief father, Captain Bax, and her beau, Ross Rierson, of the Rosalie PD. Amateur sleuth Wendy lends a hand in the ensuing investigation, which focuses on multiple suspects, each a distinctive character. Could two or more of them be colluding to rid themselves of a braggart who rarely failed to humiliate and enrage those around him? Lee does a good job rendering Southern speech patterns in the conversations between Wendy and her friend Merleece . Readers who can accept the premise that the victim would be fool enough to stay outside in a hot tub during an electrical storm are in for a treat. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.)