A Murder Most Camp

Romance author DiDomizio (Nearlywed) pivots to cozies with this charming mystery centered on gay 29-year-old Mikey Hartford IV, heir to the HartMart superstore fortune. Set to receive his inheritance on his 30th birthday, Mikey grows worried when his father demands he return from his latest yachting holiday for an emergency family meeting. There, Mikey’s dad reveals that he’s added a new condition to his son’s trust: Mikey must spend the remaining months of his 20s helping people or forfeit his fortune. As a result, Mikey is dispatched to a rustic summer camp in Upstate New York to work as a special activities coordinator and help his introverted 12-year-old aunt Annabelle—the daughter of his grandfather—come out of her shell. Mikey’s only skill is shooting iPhone videos, so Annabelle and her campmates enlist him to help make a documentary about the story of a counselor who mysteriously disappeared years earlier. Their innocent digging soon uncovers evidence of a long-ago murder with repercussions in the present. Buoyant humor and a sweet subplot involving Mikey’s romance with a lifeguard add to the fun, even if the mystery itself takes a while to arrive. A sequel would be welcome. Agent: Courtney Paganelli, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (Apr.)