The Parting Glass

While on forced medical leave from the Buffalo, N.Y., PD, Lauren Riley renews her PI license in Redmond’s strong fifth outing for the cold case detective (after 2020’s A Full Cold Moon). Lauren is immediately contacted by socialite Sharon Whitney, whose prized Picasso was stolen in a home burglary 20 years earlier. Convinced her recently deceased retired handyman, Jimmy Breen, was the culprit, Sharon sends Lauren and Lauren’s partner, Shane Reese, to Jimmy’s home, which Sharon has purchased, in Keelnamara, Ireland, to search for the missing painting. It turns out everyone in the village is keeping secrets about Jimmy and the painting, giving Lauren and Shane plenty of suspicious people to investigate. Meanwhile, an ex-policeman, who was hired by Sharon’s former husband, has been secretly tracking them. The discovery that Jimmy was murdered raises the stakes, and the detectives realize they can trust no one, not even the local garda. This engrossing procedural builds to an unexpected outcome. Redmond reliably entertains. [em]Agent: Bob Mecoy, Creative Media Services. (July) [/em]