Last Night Was Killer

This so-so whodunit from Lowry (The Roxy Letter) centers on Tilly Turner, a single mom of twins and aspiring comedian who tries to solve a murder she may or may not have committed. After 25 years in Los Angeles, Tilly is on the cusp of success as the opening act for popular stand-up Mickey Larnx, but her dreams of stardom are dashed when Mickey is caught masturbating in a hotel hot tub. Overnight, he becomes a pariah, and Tilly is unjustly labelled an enabler. When work offers evaporate, Tilly and her daughters move in with her mother in Boise, Idaho, where Tilly takes a waitressing job and tries to fit in. After her mother dies, a well-meaning neighbor signs Tilly up for pole dancing classes. It’s fun at first, until a drunken night out with her fellow students culminates with Tilly finding the corpse of a man in her trunk. Tilly can’t identify the body, but her scrapbooking scissors are sticking out of his back, so she tries to figure out who killed him and why before the police get involved. Watching Tilly juggle the investigation with the difficulties of childcare is fun for a while, but the ending feels like a cop-out. Still, diehard cozy fans will find this just cute enough. Agent: Allison Hunter, Trellis Literary. (July)