The Summer of Love and Death

McCreary’s third installment in the Ford family series (after The Murder of Madison Garcia) has Detective Susan Ford working on a murder at a summer stock theater in upstate New York. The director of the theater’s production of Murder on the Orient Express has been found dead—naked, bound, and smothered by a pillow with his face covered in make-up and peace-sign pendant around his neck. The details echo the first case that Susan’s father (former detective Will Ford) worked 50 years earlier while the area was hosting Woodstock, involving a serial killer who was himself caught and killed while awaiting trial. Susan and her new partner, Jack Tomelli, lead the current investigation, while Will scours his memories for potential insights that might shed light on the new murder. The two cases begin to align with so many connections that believability gets tested, but the novel’s solid pacing and plotting satisfy, as does a subplot about Susan making amends with her estranged, ailing mother.