In her sixth Torie O'Shea mystery, MacPherson offers a real winner: drought-lowered waters reveal the wreckage of an old riverboat reputed to have been carrying diamonds. When interest in the ship results in murder, genealogist O'Shea investigates the wreck and its cause. Meanwhile, she discovers that she has a half-sister. For fans and readers who enjoy cozies. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Torie O'Shea, the warmhearted genealogist, wife, and mother, gives this series its zip. At times sarcastic, self-pitying, stubborn, and arrogant, Torie is as distinguished by her flaws as she is by her strengths. In the series' sixth installment, Torie is confronted with a half-sister she has never met. Torn between anger at her father's betrayal and curiosity, she struggles with how to handle the new relationship. Meanwhile, the small town of New Kassel, Missouri, is abuzz with news that a drought has exposed a sunken riverboat. The rumor of diamonds aboard brings plenty of interest--and the murder of one of the men working on the wreck. Despite warnings from her stepfather the sheriff, Torie launches her own investigation. As with the best cozies, this series focuses more on characters than on crime. And characters abound in New Kassel, from eccentric innkeeper Eleanore Murdoch to vivacious Collette, Torie's best friend from the "big city" of St. Louis. A slice of Americana as warm and comforting as apple pie ala mode. --Jenny McLarin

Old secrets are brought to light when a drought hits the small town of New Kassel, Mo., the setting for MacPherson's sixth delightful Torie O'Shea mystery (after 2002's Killing Cousins). As the river goes down, the bones of the wreck of the steamboat Phantom are revealed, and soon the old stories of a cache of diamonds that went down with the ship in 1919 are drawing visitors to town. Among the curious are a slick television reporter and his cameraman and a team from a nearby junior college, who claim to be working on a documentary about the wreck. As an authority on local history and genealogy, Torie is naturally interested in the mystery, and when a murderer strikes, Torie and her friend, another reporter, are the first to find the body. While Torie digs for the truth, she's also dealing with the discovery that she has a half-sister, a fact that her charming and feckless father has neglected to tell her. Weaving the story and the characters into the believable minutiae of small-town life, MacPherson provides a stellar example of the traditional cozy. Agent, Michele Rubin. (Apr. 7) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved