A FOOL AND HIS HONEY

Aurora (Roe) Teagarden (Dead Over Heels, 1996, etc.) is enjoying newlywed life with businessman Martin Bartell in Lawrencetown, Georgia, when Martin’s niece Regina from Ohio suddenly appears, accompanied by an infant named Hayden. Within the next 24 hours, Regina has disappeared, with her car but without her clothes or her baby; and her ne’er-do-well husband Craig has been found, a hatchet through his head, on the stairs leading to their garage apartment. Then his best friend and former jailmate Rory also turns up, appearing stunned by Craig’s death. It’s soon decided that Hayden will have to be brought back to Corinth, Ohio, where Martin grew up and where there are relatives who might take the baby in. Martin owns an old, refurbished farmhouse on the outskirts of town where Craig and Regina had been living. Now, he and Roe can stay there until matters are settled. Once arrived, Roe struggles with the complex details of child care as she and Martin try to find the reason for Regina’s disappearance and a permanent home for the baby. Their neighbors Margaret and Luke Granberry try to be helpful, but Martin’s sister Barby is off on a cruise and other possibilities for Hayden’s care seem nonexistent. Then all hell breaks loose: Regina reappears; heroics abound, and heroism too, as the convoluted plot comes to its end. Gossipy, blithe, often funny—with a wind-up that’s fierce, shocking, and poignant. A winner for Harris this time out.