MURDER AT THE RUSTY ANCHOR

A bike shop owner kicks into high gear when an unpopular high school teacher is found dead in a local pub.

Even before the murder, Mackenzie Almeida has her hands full. It’s the middle of tourist season on Cape Cod, and cyclists are flocking to rent bikes and gear at her shop. Her parents are throwing an impromptu anniversary bash, giving her less than a week to help coordinate food and spread the word to their guests. And she and her husband, Tim Brunelle, are working hard to present them with a second grandchild to accompany Mac’s niece, Cokey. When Yvonne Flora, the cook at the Rusty Anchor, discovers Bruce Byrne dead behind the bar, no one mourns his loss. “Bruce was a jerk, a bully, and a tyrant,” local librarian Florence Wolanski reflects in valediction. As the investigation heats up, Mac enlists her buddies at the Cozy Capers book group to help the police. Adopting modern business practices, the sleuths divvy up their efforts into “action items,” with each member responsible for vetting one suspect. Still, the lion’s share of the quest falls on Mac, and she doesn’t disappoint. Her pointed queries have exactly the result you’d expect: She rattles enough cages to get herself into personal peril before unmasking the culprit.

Day’s feisty heroine elevates an otherwise routine shopkeeper cozy.