All the Suspects on Campus, by Heather Day Gilbert (HarperCollins, 2027)

Jo Blue Oliver teaches literature in a small university in West Virginia. As a widowed mom of a recent college grad, she takes a motherly interest in her students. She’s about to take a personal interest in a murder—and a missing person.

Faculty and students alike begin to look suspicious.

When Jo Blue and her daughter discover a hidden room in their newly-purchased older home—a room stacked with Agatha Christie novels—they decide to start their own book club. Reading Christie’s The Third Girl heightens their suspicions about the mystery on campus and motivates the dedicated professor to keep investigating when wisdom says to leave it to the police.

Sheriff Dane Matthews was Jo Blue’s high school sweetheart. He’s single, she’s widowed, and there are hints of a romantic interest to come later in the series. Maybe a bit of a love triangle too, who knows?

All the Suspects on Campus delivers a clean, fast-paced mystery with plenty of West Virginia atmosphere, featuring a middle-aged amateur sleuth, her outspoken mother, and her independent daughter. The Agatha Christie connection will have readers rushing to pick up a copy of The Third Girl next to explore the parallels and differences.

I appreciated a couple of subtle nods to Heather Day Gilbert’s other mysteries. And a secret library in an old house… what a perfect setting!

All the Suspects on Campus is a fine start to a new series by an author I always appreciate. I’m looking forward to book two.

Heather Day Gilbert writes contemporary mystery and suspense as well as Viking historicals. For more about the author and her books, visit heatherdaygilbert.com.

[Review copy provided through NetGalley.]