Green Grow the Victims (Hilda Johannson Mystery, 3rd)

Jeanne M. Dams fills out the turn-of-the-century world of full-time housekeeper and part-time sleuth Hilda Johansson with a wealth of historical detail. In this case, relatives of the man Hilda loves approach her with a plea to find Uncle Dan, the flamboyant Democratic candidate for the city council whom the police suspect of murder. It seems as though Dan's guilt is obvious and his disappearance the crowning proof. He was the last man seen speaking to the deceased, a political rival, his blood-stained shillelagh was found next to the body, and the only eyewitness is a parish priest who swears Dan did the deed. Against all these appearances, Hilda must gather what evidence she can, trusting to her intuition to solve both the disappearance and the murder. "This is the kind of book you don't just read, you step into." (Booklist)