To Kill a Mocking Girl: A Bookbinding Mystery

Quinn Caine, the 20-something heroine of this enjoyable series launch from Kincaid (The Wonder of You), has just returned from teaching abroad to Vienna, Va., to work as a bookbinder at the family bookstore. A lot has changed in her hometown. Her once rambunctious cousin, Elizabeth Anne Caine, is now Sister Daria, a nun in training, and her high school nemesis, Trisha Pemberley, is engaged to Scott Hauser, whom Quinn once dated briefly. One night, while walking Ruff Barker Ginsburg, her German shepherd, Quinn comes across Trisha’s body in the park. The police officer who responds to her call, also a newcomer to Vienna, Wyatt Reynolds, seems to have known the victim and regards Quinn with suspicion. When Quinn and Sister Daria begin to investigate, they discover that Trisha was at odds with her twin, Trina, over Trisha’s relationship with Wyatt, and that Trisha and Scott were hiding a secret. Meanwhile, Quinn reconnects with her secret crush, Aiden Harrington, now a police detective. Smooth prose, realistic characters, a budding romance, and not too much silliness make this cozy a winner. Tantalizing recipes round out the volume. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (May)