Jane Tesh. A Hard Bargain. Scottsdale, AZ: Poisoned Pen Press, 2007.

Madeline “Mac” Maclin gained a bit of notoriety when she solved the murder of a local beauty contestant in A Case of Imagination, but the good people of Celosia, North Carolina still see her as a former beauty queen, not a private detective.  Desperate for work, Mac agrees to locate a man who left some cartons stored in Frannie Thomas’ guest bedroom.  Frannie let Kirby Willets store those boxes as a favor to a local librarian, Bernice Coleman, but now Frannie’s mother is coming to live with her and those cartons have got to go.  From this innocuous start, Tesh spins a tale that includes a faded Hollywood star, a monster in the woods, a secret love, and a fair share of small town quirkiness.  While looking for Willets, Mac also tries to help her boyfriend Jerry comes to terms with his childhood; Jerry’s backstory adds depth to the novel.

This is the second novel in the Maclin Investigations series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2007, Humor, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont, Tesh, Jane

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