DEDICATION TO MURDER

A shocking surprise disrupts a bookseller’s wedding.

Standing at the altar waiting for the minister to pronounce you and your groom man and wife probably isn’t anyone’s preferred time or place to learn that the man you're about to wed is still married to someone else. But Addie Greyborne did have to recognize, however grudgingly, that Valerie Price’s eleventh-hour announcement that Simon Emerson was still legally married to Valerie’s niece, Laurel Hill, saved her from entering unknowingly into a bigamous union. Still, Addie’s gratitude does not extend to mourning Valerie’s death days later. Not does it extend, at first, to using her considerable sleuthing skills to solve Valerie’s murder. Taking time off from her store, Beyond the Page Books and Curios in Greyborne Harbor, Massachusetts, Addie spends her days grieving the loss of Simon and prowling the house her great-aunt Anita left her for mementos of her benefactor. When she finds an unworn wedding dress in the attic among all the boxes of books, she decides that’s the puzzle she wants to probe. It isn’t until her good friend Marc, a detective on the local police force, asks for her help that she admits she might be able to handle two investigations at once. Working out two simultaneous puzzles teaches Addie a lot about herself and proves to be just the tonic she needs to cope with the shock of a lifetime.

Detection as therapy, while not exactly new, proves highly effective.