Set in 2002, LaPierre's crisply plotted ninth Port Silva mystery features mother-daughter sleuths Patience and Verity Mackellar (after
2004's Death Duties
), who once again must deal with violence in the picturesque Northern California coastal town. A rally against the march to war in Iraq turns ugly when several protesters struggling with police tumble off a cliff into the ocean. Among the casualties is Daniel Soto, a worker Verity has hired to help remodel her new home. Though Daniel is missing, he's presumed dead. But Soto's grief-stricken girlfriend, Grace Beaubien, refuses to accept his death and hires the Mackellars to find him—and to uncover the past he had never disclosed to her. Lending support are Verity's hunky boyfriend, Det. Johnny Hebert, and her engaging soon-to-be-adopted daughter, nine-year-old Sylvie. Blending contemporary issues and family conflicts with a solid mystery plot, the author reaffirms her fluid mastery of the cozy. (Sept.)
