THE BUSY BODY by Kemper Donovan, Kensington Publishing, 2024; 320 pages, $27; ISBN 978-1-4967-4453-1.

THE BUSY BODY

Author Kemper Donovan loves famed mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976). He loves everything about her; in fact, he hosts a podcast about her called “All About Agatha.” He’s a writer, too, and thought it would be fun to write a mystery in the Agatha Christie style — a classic puzzle mystery.

“The Busy Body” is Donovan’s second novel, after “The Decent Proposal.” This is a timely mystery nicely blended with politics, gender dynamics, deception, hormones, surprising plot twists and murder, with generous nods to Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. And it’s pretty funny, too.

The story is narrated by an unnamed ghost-writer, hired by former Senator and recent presidential candidate Dorothy Gibson (I-ME), to write Gibson’s tell-all memoir. Gibson was an independent candidate who regrets losing the election, but regrets more that she split the vote allowing her hated rival to win (guess who?). The ghost-writer is a confident smart-mouth who doesn’t care who she works for or what she writes as long as it pays well. Gibson is a potty-mouth 69-year-old woman who doesn’t suffer fools. They make perfect partners for solving crimes.

When Gibson’s wealthy neighbor suddenly dies by suicide, everybody says “No way!” Even the police call foul play. Gibson and the writer smell a rat and are excited to investigate, thinking suicide seemed impossible, so was the death really murder? How was it committed? Who was the real victim? And, of course, why?

Suspects abound: the victim’s lying, fraudster husband; his “canoodling” secretary; the strange sister nobody knows; a bitter ex-wife; an overweight son who loves cake; the married couple who hated the husband and his wife; or the chef with a side-hustle. And the motives for murder are perfect Christie: “love, lust, loathing

PATCHWORK QUILT MURDER by Leslie Meier; Kensington Publishing, 2024; 282 pages, $27; ISBN 978-1-4967-3379-5.

and lucre.”

PATCHWORK QUILT MURDER

One of the nice qualities of a “cozy” murder mystery is that any violence is off-stage or already happened, leaving blood and guts images to late night television. Another nice quality is the  intricate plot with multiple suspects, murky motives and frequent surprise endings. No wonder “cozy” mysteries are so popular.

One of the best writers in this genre is Leslie Meier. She is in good company with Barbara Ross and Lee Hollis, the three often collaborating on popular holiday mystery-story collections. Meier stands alone here with another solid mystery in her long-running “Lucy Stone Mystery” series (30 books), set in fictional Tinker’s Cove, Maine, a “cozy” mystery town with a high murder rate.

Lucy Stone is a reporter for the local newspaper, always looking for a big story, something besides the school lunch menu, and she’s got a whopper. The town is agonizing over the high cost of the new community center and the outrageous salary of its new director. Accusations of fraud and corruption swirl, making this a juicy story for Lucy.

She senses something is wrong immediately, but cannot put her finger on it until two people go missing and human body parts start showing up in odd places — a foot here, an arm there. Somebody has been killed, but who is it and why? Lucy’s investigation reveals false identities, theft of valuable antiques, astonishing levels of greed, familial hatred, revenge and cold-blooded murder.

Add a mysterious woodland hermit, some fanatic environmentalists, a couple of frozen feet, well-meaning but less-than-diligent town officials, a spot-on whistleblower who is right but nobody listens to, a blood-stained Civil War quilt and some nifty ID technology, and Meier spins a great mystery yarn.

Bill Bushnell lives and writes in Harpswell.