MYSTERY

The Expectant Detectives

Minotaur: St. Martin’s. Jan. 2024. 384p. ISBN 9781250322708. $28. M
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DEBUT Ailes knocks it out of the park with this humorous debut. Alice and her partner Joe want to raise their soon-to-be-born child away from the hustle and bustle of London, so they move to the idyllic countryside in the Cotswolds. All is not as calm and serene as hoped, however. Alice finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation when a dead body is discovered at a prenatal class she’s attending. Together with the other three moms from the class, as well as her rambunctious, goofy canine companion Helen, Alice and her band of pregnant sleuths begin their own investigation. Ailes is one to watch. Her book is filled with witty banter, a quirky cast of characters (including a gong bath priestess and hippie commune members), several plot twists.
VERDICT Readers of Darci Hannah will enjoy Helen’s spotlight in this series. The humor is akin to Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan series, and the relationship between Joe and Alice is reminiscent of Jules Capshaw’s romantic endeavors in Ellie Alexander’s “Bakeshop Mysteries.”
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