Gonna Take a Homicidal Journey — Sandra Scoppettone

PI Lauren Laurano takes on the conventional notion that appearances can be deceiving in this snappily paced whodunit. She and her longtime girlfriend, Kip, leave Manhattan for a vacation on Long Island. They are ostensibly going to help friends renovate a new house, but they're really aiming to rehab their relationship, which is still in recovery from Lauren's recent affair. They arrive at the village of Seaview in the middle of a crime wave that would put their native Greenwich Village to shame. The body of Bill Moffat, a highly regarded local who was leading the fight to keep fast-food chains out of town, is found hanging from a tree branch. The police call it a suicide, but his cousin doesn't agree, especially since Moffat recently told her that he thought he was being followed. Hired to investigate and happy to get away from Kip, not to mention the home-improvement efforts, Lauren uncovers some highly dubious fatal accidents and begins to suspect that a serial killer is on the loose.