Miss Zukas' friend and more the police chief is seriously hurt while his children are visiting. Meanwhile there's a murder to solve. ( )

When a corpse turns up buried in her neighbor's garden, librarian-turned-sleuth Helma Zukas sets out to find the killer before her police chief boyfriend, Wayne Gallant, becomes the next victim of a murderer who will do anything to hide the truth, using an incriminating library book that is found at the murder scene to track down the killer. Original.
Rendezvous Review: A Miss Zukas mystery. Helma Zukas nervously awaits the arrival of Police Chief Wayne Gallant's teenage children, Joseph and Syndi. Her new neighbor, TNT Stone, an ex-pugilist or as he says "boxer," asks Helma to help talk to his step-daughter, Mary Lynn, about her husband's death. With this new development and the stressful afternoon with the teenagers, Helma relaxes until Wayne is out on a call and disappears. He's found at the bottom of a cliff in serious condition and no one knows what he was investigating. Now, Helma has to care for the kids, find some answers, and spend time with Wayne. Ms. Dereske has shown us another facet to Wilhelmina Zukas' character and given us an exciting mystery. With Wayne's memory blanks, our amateur detective must lead the charge. One of the best. Nancy McCann ( )

I’ve read the other books in this series. While, in a way, they’re cute, Helma Zukas has developed into such a stereotypical, self-righteous, uptight librarian that I’ve begun to hate her. Ah well. ( )