MURDER AT TWIN BEECHES

A body turning up at a vast Pennsylvania estate ignites investigations from police and amateurs alike in this debut murder mystery.

Louise Jenkins agrees to host a local event at her centuries-old ancestral home. The Bucks County Historical Society’s annual house and garden tour draws a crowd of guests ready to mingle and sip bubbly. But the party comes to an abrupt end when someone stumbles on a body in the pantry. Neither Louise nor her three grown children know the victim, Michael Porter, who died from blunt force trauma. Cops tie the homicide to drugs and a later overdose. They’re convinced that Porter had been a dealer despite his fiancee’s insistence that he stayed away from drugs. Louise’s daughter Amelia Halliday certainly believes the detectives have missed something. She was an investigative reporter in Los Angeles before a relationship with one of her sources got her sacked. She’s now freelancing in her hometown and determined to solve the murder that happened in her mother’s house. Amelia isn’t the only amateur sleuth on the case; 11-year-old Winnie Miller, whose parents help manage Louise’s estate, scours for clues as well. This brilliant and animated tween’s impressive observational skills come in handy as she inches closer to the real culprit. In fact, she and Amelia seem to be making someone nervous, as they spot strangers following them. And since a handful of people have a possible involvement in Porter’s murder, along with a mounting pile of associated crimes, danger could spring from anywhere—even a familiar face.

The narrative’s leisurely pace echoes a cozy mystery, though Leonhauser’s story is a bit too edgy for that subgenre. Still, both of the gumshoes work at their own pace, and Amelia picks up most of her evidence simply from people approaching her with information. It’s nevertheless a delight to watch them slowly unravel the mystery. Winnie even puts items she finds in her “evidence box,” things that may or may not help unmask a killer. She’s just one member of a vibrant cast; there’s also Ruth Richards, Louise’s funny, sometimes cheeky lifelong best friend, as well as Tony Mardi, the good-natured chief detective who was Amelia’s college boyfriend. Intrigue colors the backstories, too, such as the missing man who briefly owned Louise’s estate, threw wild, extravagant parties, and promptly vanished a year ago. The author keeps the spotlight on the characters with a relatively simple mystery; readers get at least a few answers well before Amelia and Winnie do, and what’s left isn’t terribly hard to crack. But a few deductions aren’t convincing; one detective doesn’t think Porter’s place is “a drug dealer’s apartment” on account of the “secondhand” furniture and “worn, inexpensive” clothing brands. At the same time, it’s realistic that Amelia continually reworks or questions her ongoing theories. Occasional clues turn out to be red herrings—a murder-mystery staple. The final act of the tale, which could easily spawn a sequel, amps up suspense as one of the vivacious heroes finds herself in peril and a guilty baddie vows to get away scot-free.

An entertaining whodunit with a razor-sharp, indelible cast and series potential.