Working Vacations Will Kill You

A body in a clambake pit is the best first-chapter image I've read in a cozy this year. The hook is the premise and the voice together. Rick MacIntyre, ex-network radio anchor, stands at the edge of the hole with a Sea Breeze and a half-remembered Martha Stewart diagram, and the reveal pays off with seaweed-stained chef whites, a red smudge by the mouth, and a mini potato in an eye socket. Ralphie's line, "Looks like they're going to need more butter," tells you exactly what you're buying: warm, wry, and not squeamish.

The selling points are all in place. Crisis-comms specialists who solve crimes on the side are a fresh professional frame for amateur sleuths. The Roscoe Gang's one-liner code ("They can fire you, but they can't kill you") and its "Never lie to us" commandment are series-ready. The Maine resort setting and the oversized rabbit Bunyan, who steals the final scene by eating the hero's romantic hydrangeas, are comp-title bait.

Genre execution is just as sure. The clue trail is fair: the red lip balm and the "flower lady" rave pay off when Seth's pink azalea-print sighting lands. The suspect pool is properly stocked, and the Marshes' brawling marriage is a well-deployed red herring. Each rival suspect gets a plausible motive and a plausible reason to be cleared. The reveal that Chet died of hypothermia in the walk-in, not from the blow to the head, is a satisfying turn. The ending is earned and the romance with Chief Glass ripens at a believable pace.