Killer Tied: An Eve Appel Mystery

At the start of Diehl’s entertaining if overly busy sixth Eve Appel mystery (after 2017’s Old Bones Never Die), two people walk into the Sabal Bay, Fla., office of PI-in-training Eve within minutes of each other: Henry Montrose, looking for his daughter, Eleanor; and Eleanor herself, who’s searching for her mom, who she claims is also Eve’s mother—a real conundrum considering Eve’s parents supposedly died before Eleanor was even born. Meanwhile, Eve’s father-in-law, Lionel Egret, takes her three orphaned nephews on a camping trip into the swamp where Lionel has spent the last 30 years completely out of contact with the family; the foursome later return to report the discovery of a dead body. Frida, Eve’s friend on the Sabal Bay police force, wants to bring Lionel in for questioning, but he vanishes. Another plot line involves Eve and mob boss Nappi Napolitani. Too many threads in too many directions make it next to impossible for newcomers to follow the action, but series fans will enjoy catching up with Eve and friends. (Mar.)