THE ENEMY YOU GNOCCHI

A young widow seeks the killer of a fellow restaurateur.

Tessa Esposito is slowly adjusting to the loss of her husband, Dylan, murdered 14 months ago. With the help of her assistant, Stephanie Beaudry, and her cousins Gabby and Gino, she's focused on making her Italian place, Anything's Pastable, the best dining spot in Harvest Park, New York. She has the full support of her handsome landlord, Vince Falducci, who intervenes when customers like Mario Russo get too friendly. Tessa dislikes Mario not only for being a letch, but for opening The Espresso Lane in direct competition with her old friend Archie Fenton's Java Time. So it would hardly have rocked Tessa's busy world to have Mario stabbed to death during Harvest Park's annual Festival of Lights if the police—meaning her cousin Gino, who's the local chief—didn't focus on Archie as the prime suspect. Desperate to help her friend, Tessa looks for alternatives and finds many: jilted lovers, shady loan sharks, and Archie's hotheaded son. There's also an old girlfriend in Mario's past who died after their last date. With all this sleuthing to do, you'd think Tessa would hardly have time for the obligatory romantic complications, but in addition to the attentions of hunky Vince, there's Justin, a firefighter with a sense of humor who's looking for a promotion from Dylan's best friend to Tessa's best squeeze.

Beneath all the red sauce, Bruns offers standard cozy fare with a dash of detection on the side.