TAIL OF THE DRAGON

An astrologer relies on the stars to guide her investigation into the murder of an attorney at her former employer’s firm.

Doing a favor for her former boss David Meyers, Julia Bonatti agrees to fill in for a vacationing secretary at his law firm, Meyers, Dade & Schultz, LLP. The law firm is a far cry from Julia’s current focus: She’s an astrologer with both private clients and a robust advice column, “AskZodia.” Julia doesn’t mind the extra cash even if the lawyer culture is a little more cutthroat than her day job, but that description becomes a little too literal when Jack Harding, one of the firm’s litigation attorneys, is murdered. Given Julia’s past success in crime-solving (All Signs Point to Murder, 2018, etc.), David’s so keen to keep her on in order to help get to the bottom of Jack’s death that he even pairs her with Adam Schaeffer, the firm’s go-to investigator. A consultation with the stars makes Julia warn David that the worst is yet to come, and she and Adam work together to try to figure out who had a grudge against Jack—though it seems easier to determine who didn’t—before the killer can strike again. But the murder at her own law firm isn’t the only mystery in Julia’s life. Gale, her friend and longtime mentor, has a new love interest who seems all too attentive, and Julia is convinced that there’s something nefarious behind the charm. Julia’s distracted from her investigations of Jack’s death and Gale’s paramour by her own love life when she hits it off with Adam. But is she ready to start dating just a few years after her fiance Michael’s sudden death? Her friends would say yes, but Julia’s just not sure.

A by-the-numbers cozy distinguished only by its San Francisco setting and astrological appeal.