THE MORTICIAN'S DAUGHTER by Elizabeth Bloom (Mysterious Press)

Just when you think things can't get any worse, they do. Ginny Lavoie's personal life and career are in shambles when she hears from her best childhood friend, "Danny's dead." Knowing the death of a child will trump most any other problem, Ginny leaves New York for the run-down mill town in the Berkshires where she spent her childhood. On her return, she realizes even a disgraced NYPD detective can do more to find Danny's murderer than the incompetent local police chief. Like Thomas Wolfe, she also realizes it's hard to go back home again. Finding the answers to Danny's death means asking questions about the past—and few of the folks involved want to bring old stories to light. Bloom writes cliff-hanging chapter endings that made it very difficult for me to put this book down. I'll look forward to continuing my new relationship with Ginny Lavoie.