Done Gone

Talley’s energetic 18th Hannah Ives mystery (after 2019’s Tangled Roots) finds Hannah and her husband preparing for their monthly dinner party at home in Annapolis, Md. When their next-door neighbors, Trish and Paul Young, fail to arrive or call to explain, Hannah is worried. The next day, she goes to their house, where the Youngs are nowhere to be found. Hannah’s concerns grow, until she receives a cryptic call from Trish, who requests they meet in a mall parking lot. There Trish gives Hannah an encrypted flash drive and instructions to deliver it to a New York Times journalist. Before Trish can reveal more, she’s shot in the head. With Trish in intensive care, Hannah decides to investigate. Not every character behaves credibly, and there’s at least one convenient coincidence, but Talley keeps the action humming as Hannah interviews Trish’s relatives and dodges more bullets en route to uncovering a political scandal that could rock the nation. Hannah’s gently amusing observations on eating drippy barbecue in the bathtub and other pleasures provide counterpoint to the mayhem. Readers will wish her a long career. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary. (Apr.)