In a midnight wood

Twin Cities restaurant owner Jane Lawless gets fodder for her true-crime podcast when she visits Castle Lake, Minnesota, for an arts festival. After she arrives, Jane learns that the body of a long-missing teen, Sam Romilly, has been found surreptitiously buried in the local graveyard. What happened to him, as well as who is behind the arson death of a local woman who dies while Jane is in town, leads readers through the thicket of Castle Lake's politics and secrets, with a possible romance for Jane with the town's female mayor providing a pleasant side plot. Jane's job as a podcaster often gets people talking more readily than is realistic, but all too real is the story of Sam's turmoil as the gay son of an abusive man and the long life of gossip and innuendo in a small town. Hart's latest (following Twisted at the Root, 2019) will find an audience among those who enjoy small-town crime stories; a twist regarding Sam's death is a startling bonus. A solid choice for fans of Paige Shelton's Alaska Wild mysteries.

MWA Grand Master Hart's elegantly plotted 27th Jane Lawless mystery (after 2019's Twisted at the Root) takes Jane, a Minneapolis restaurateur and researcher for crime podcasts dealing with Minnesota cold cases, and her best friend, theater director Cordelia Thorn, to Castle Lake for a few days of relaxation before the small town's annual arts festival. Jane and Cordelia are distracted by some gruesome news from Emma Granholm, the friend they're staying with. The remains of Sam Romilly, Emma's high school boyfriend who disappeared in 1999, have just been found buried beneath a coffin in a local graveyard, along with his backpack. For decades, it was rumored that Sam's father had murdered him. Jane decides to investigate Sam's death for a podcast, and in the course of her digging comes to realize that someone other than Sam's father had motive to kill the teenager. Hart builds tension by alternating chapters focused on Jane and friends in the present with those showing Sam and his schoolmates in 1999. Each new glimpse of the past alters readers' understanding of the present. This complex mystery will satisfy newcomers and longtime fans alike. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners. (Sept.)