cover image A Thorn Among the Lilies

A Thorn Among the Lilies

Michael Hiebert. Kensington, $15 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-61773-737-4

Leah Teal, the detective for the Alvin, Ala., police department, takes her teenage daughter, Carry, to a psychic, Madame Crystalle, in Hiebert’s engaging third Southern-fried mystery (after 2014’s Close to the Broken Hearted). Soon after Madame Crystalle delivers a coded message to Leah, a woman’s corpse turns up fitting the psychic’s description. The victim’s eyelids are sewn shut, and there’s writing on her body and a cross “hewn from hickory” in her pocket. When another victim is discovered in a nearby town killed in the same manner, Leah aims to catch the serial killer with the help of Det. Dan Truitt. Meanwhile, in a lengthy digression that distracts from the main action, Leah’s preteen son, Abe, attempts to ferret out the serial killer with his best friend, Dewey. The budding romance between the charming Leah and Dan lends human interest amid her encounters with possible suspects, including Alvin’s mayor. Readers will keep guessing whodunit to the end. Agent: Adrienne Rosado, Nancy Yost Literary Agency. (July)