The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective

In this delightful cozy, Nichols—a pseudonym for husband-and-wife team Joel Ross (The Fog Diver) and Lee Nichols (Tales of a Drama Queen)—introduces a cast of colorful characters who live in a cluster of cottages near the ocean in Santa Barbara. Octogenarian landlady Golda Bakofsky treats her kind if eccentric tenants like family. They include the agoraphobic Hamilton, secretive Nicholas, artist Ocean, nearly divorced Lily-Ann, suspicious new arrival Anthony, and budding playwright Sophie. When a dead man turns up in the cottages’ courtyard and Anthony is arrested for his murder, Mrs. Bakofsky thinks there’s been a miscarriage of justice, so she goes to the police and confesses to the crime. To clear her name, the neighbors band together to solve the case. Chapters alternate between Mrs. Bakofsky, her tenants, and Det. Sgt. Vernon Enible, whose eagerness to close the case leads him to some sloppy investigative work. Crisp dialogue, well-clued twists, and robustly drawn characters conspire to make this a memorable new entry in the cozy field. Readers will hope a sequel is on the way. (Aug.)