The A-List Murders

The world of San Francisco high society provides the backdrop for Zellerbach’s engaging fifth Hallie Marsh mystery (after 2013’s Dying to Dance). While Hallie has given up the PR business to devote herself to raising her six-month-old son, Daniel Stuart Casserly, she can’t resist the chance to work for the Golden Gate Star, a popular monthly magazine. As a reporter for the Star, Hallie covers a birthday party for wealthy and influential Andi Douvier aboard Greek tycoon Nestor Panagiotis’s 165-foot yacht, Medusa, in San Francisco Bay. When a pair of white doves, part of a table centerpiece, are found dead in their cages and Andi disappears, the ship returns to shore. A body later found at sea suggests murder to Hallie, who winds up investigating another, earlier death with her journalist husband, Cas. Down-to-earth characters and an intriguing plot will keep fans of sweet romantic mysteries turning the pages. (Jan.)