Frozen Charlotte (Martha Gunn Mystery)
In chapter one of Masters's gripping third mystery featuring intuitive, no-nonsense coroner Martha Gunn (after 2007's Slip Knot), a middle-aged woman, Alice Sedgewick, brings in the desiccated remains of an infant boy to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital. Polite yet eerily vacant, Alice insists she found the newborn in her home. Martha, whose job it is to find out not only who has died but where and how, has her hands full, and the police, under Det. Insp. Alex Randall's curt and decisive guidance, fan out to interview a host of colorful yet recalcitrant suspects, including Alice's domineering and blustery husband as well as the previous owners of Alice's house, an arrogant couple who now live in Spain. The widowed Martha's conversations with her spirited teenage twin daughters, her interactions with troubled friends, and her relationship with the enigmatic Alex hold considerable interest. Clues, lined up like golden crumbs, lure the reader to a surprising conclusion. (June)