Autumn Embers * Tina deBellegarde * Batavia-on-Hudson Mystery #3

Traveling to Japan to return an ancient artifact, a part-time New York librarian finds herself navigating a cross-continental nightmare when she witnesses a hidden crime in a beautiful Kyoto garden and her own son becomes the primary murder suspect.

The Story: Written by prominent two-time Agatha Award-nominated author Tina deBellegarde, this atmospheric 2024 mystery transforms a classic small-town cozy series into an exceptionally sharp, multi-layered international puzzle box. DeBellegarde establishes an emotionally dense framework that effortlessly juggles two highly disparate worlds: the cozy, autumn-drenched shrines of ancient Kyoto and a high-stakes local election back in upstate New York.

The plot follows the intuitive Bianca St. Denis, who departs Batavia-on-Hudson for Japan in late October to restore a priceless artifact unearthed during a summer flood. The journey doubles as a long-awaited reunion with her musician son, Ian, a student at Kyoto University. Her protective maternal sanctuary permanently fractures during a welcome party when she catches a glimpse of a violent struggle in a dark guesthouse garden. When local police investigate and turn up no body, Bianca is left feeling completely isolated - grappling with subtle cultural customs and a massive language barrier in a city of two thousand shrines.

The situation hits a highly volatile crisis point when a dead body surfaces in a local river and the local detectives zero in on Ian as their prime suspect. Propelled by pure maternal instinct, Bianca launches her own quiet investigation to clear her son's name, hunting for clues within his tight-knit community of expatriate friends. Meanwhile, an ocean away, her friend Sheriff Mike Riley faces his own severe countdown, fighting a losing re-election campaign while confronting shocking news regarding his dead partner and a crumbling marriage. Leaning on each other through long-distance calls, the duo must unlock their respective mysteries before the clock runs out. Published by Level Best Books, this deeply moving tale explores the malleability of human identity, proving that chosen families can build an unbreakable bridge across any distance.

Perfect For: Devotees of traditional, slow-burn cozy mysteries and cross-cultural amateur sleuth stories like the works of Louise Penny, Sujata Massey, or Cara Black; readers tracking the ongoing development of the Batavia-on-Hudson chronicle; and fiction lovers who appreciate evocative travel descriptions, Japanese folklore, and character-driven family dynamics.

Published 2024 by Level Best Books.

Cozy Mysteries / Global Amateur Sleuth Whodunits / Cross-Cultural Suspense / Family & Motherhood Dramas / Series Continuations