A Zoom with a View

In this so-so series launch from Cannon (a pseudonym for We Were Illegal author Jessica Goudeau), Leo Holloway returns home to Blue Oak, Tex., after failing to find work as an English professor in New York City. Leo’s godmother, Kay Schneider, offers her a job as an in-house photographer for her real estate firm, and with no other prospects, Leo accepts. Things go awry with her first assignment when she discovers a body wrapped in painter’s drop cloths in one of Kay’s properties. The victim is Chaz Nickolson, owner of a real estate agency that rivals Kay’s. Detective Jake Nguyen, a childhood friend of Leo’s, takes her to the station for questioning. Meanwhile, sheriff Stan Quackenbush, who’s aware of the feud between agencies, deduces that Kay had motive to murder Chaz and arrests her. Jake, however, suspects that someone is framing Kay, and hires Leo as a consultant on the case. The pair interviews a wide array of suspects, but Cannon’s rushed conclusion identifies a culprit that most readers will have guessed much earlier. A subplot about the secret past of Leo’s mother generates more heat than the core investigation. This misses the mark. Agent: Mackenzie Brady Watson, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (May)