LOST UNDER A LADDER

A woman’s desire to make sense of her fiance’s death—he dies after walking under a ladder—takes her and her dog, Pluckie, to Destiny, California, where superstition rules.

After booking into the Rainbow Bed & Breakfast, Rory Chasen leashes Pluckie and heads for the Broken Mirror Bookstore. But Pluckie is more interested in the Lucky Dog Boutique next door, where they discover a woman lying on the floor. Their 911 call quickly brings help in the form of EMTs and handsome Chief of Police Justin Halbertson, allowing Rory to head to the Broken Mirror to meet owner Kenneth Tarzal, author of The Destiny of Superstitions, the book she’s been using for her research into her fiance’s mishap. Tarzal is a skeptic, but his partner, Preston Kunningham, is a true believer. Both have been pushing Lucky Dog owner Martha to sell them her shop, making Martha, who refuses to be bullied, a suspect when Rory and Pluckie find Tarzal murdered with a piece of broken mirror. Rory’s background as an assistant manager at a MegaPets store encourages Martha to ask her to help run the shop until she recovers. Although Rory, her head turned by Chief Halbertson, agrees, she soon gets into trouble. Her curiosity overcomes her good sense, and Pluckie’s luck may just have run out when the killer targets Rory for trying to clear Martha.

Multigenre veteran Johnston (Teacup Turbulence, 2014, etc.) launches her planned Superstition Mystery series with too much superstition and not enough mystery.