Hot Water — Sally Gunning

PETER BARTHOLOMEW'S FIRM SPECIALIZED IN ODD JOBS, BUT DISCOVERING DEAD BODIES WAS NOT ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

Pete's company did just about anything that needed doing on the Cape Hook island of Nashtoba. He'd been all set to catalogue books up at Edna Hitchcock's place when he found her lifeless body in the bath. It looked like a clear case of too much bourbon and Seconal, until Pete remembered that the bathwater had still been hot...

And to top it off, everyone in Nashtoba had to tell him that his ex-wife, Connie, was back in town. Pete didn't want to think about Connie.

Fortunately there was Edna's sexy daughter Martha, down from Boston, looking to him for consolation. But there was also the letter found on Edna's desk, suggesting nasty secrets about Martha's long-dead aunt Lizzie. And Pete's loyal secretary, with her wild teenage daughter and too-nice new man in her life. Not to mention the local police, sniffing around Martha like over-eager bloodhounds...

With great splashes of local color, mysteries within mysteries, and the most engaging cast of characters to come along in years, HOT WATER is a smashing debut. Sally Gunning lives on Cape Cod, where she is working on her next Peter Bartholomew mystery.