The Walled Flower

February 1, 2012
Katie Bonner dreams of running a bed-and-breakfast in the old Webster mansion at the end of Victoria Square in McKinlay Mills, a lakefront town in western New York State. But she doesn't dream of helping to knock down a wall for the current owners and finding a skeleton. As she tries to go about her business as manager of Artisans Alley, a collection of shops that anchors the other end of Victoria Square, a business she inherited from her husband and his business partner, she and the detectives on the case bring to light long-ago high-school high jinx and current-day shady businesses in their quest to discover the identity of the skeleton and its murderer. There's a good balance of dialogue and description to move the story along, plus realistic side stories involving the collection of nicely variedand mostly likablecharacters. Recipes for the baked goods Katie makes as treats for her artisans are included.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)