Somebody is out to kill Laura Chandler. Widowed at 27 after being married only six months to Davis Chandler, she has inherited her husband's financially troubled business as well as the animosity of his two adult children. They blame her not only for their father's death in a mysterious plane crash, but for their mother's suicide as well.

As "Widow's Walk," a pleasantly romantic mystery, quietly unfolds, we learn Laura has inherited a ramshackle Victorian manse complete with falling plaster, cobwebs, creaky stairs and its own ghost. It also comes with a menacing intruder, who writes chilling threats on her door and leaves an animal carcass in her kitchen.

Suspects abound. A sinister neighbor believes the house is rightfully his. When he is murdered, suspicion falls upon Laura. Laura's stepchildren, who lift the term "dysfunctional" to new heights, want her out of their lives and out of the family business. But the most serious threat comes from Sanford Ellis, Davis' smarmy partner whose amorous advances verge upon assault. In no time at all he has become a stalker.

Laura befriends the townspeople, but her staunchest ally is Michael Grant, a broad-chested, incredibly handsome, God-fearing veterinarian who will protect her at any cost.

Judy Moresi is a St. Louis-based writer who sets her mildly suspenseful story in southeastern Missouri, with plenty of local color but a few too many one-dimensional characters.

This novel also has an ending that is far too tidy, and its Christian angle may limit its audience. But it gains appeal through the grit and determination of a plucky heroine who has a wry sense of humor.

Elaine Viets' "Half-Price Homicide" is the ninth in the continuing saga ("Dead End Jobs") of Helen Hawthorne, whose monumental financial and marital woes have caused her to flee her native St. Louis and settle in Fort Lauderdale under a new identity.

True to the theme of "Dead End Jobs," Helen is now selling clothes at Snapdragon, a designer consignment shop whose snobbish and off-beat customers pursue Prada, Gucci and Jimmy Choo in deadly earnest. Since catastrophe seems to stalk Helen from city to city, it comes as no surprise when Chrissie, a shrewish customer, is bludgeoned to death with a huge crystal pineapple.

Unfortunately Helen's prints are all over the murder weapon, a clue that brings her into hostile confrontation with Richard McNally, a surly detective she's previously encountered.

But a host of other more raffish customers with connections to Chrissie were in Snapdragon at the time of the murder. What about her abusive and jealous husband? Could it have been her lover, who had tired of their affair? Or was Chrissie blackmailing a powerful politician?

The most intriguing developments take place in St. Louis, where Helen and her fiancé travel to settle some troublesome issues. In a truly imaginative twist the author creates astounding events that will undoubtedly fuel the next episode.

The action never ceases and Helen's prying nature coupled with her fiery temper keep the authorities gritting their teeth. Those qualities only endear her to Phil, her sweet-tempered and forbearing fiancé, who, as a shrewd private investigator, is invaluable to Helen.

Much of the action defies logic. Many of the characters are stereotypes. Yet the author has written a boisterous novel that is continual fun.

The debut novel by A.D. Scott is set far from the Midwest. "A Small Death in the Great Glen" deftly combines a startling story and an engaging cast with a chilling motif.

It is 1956 and the body of a young boy has been found, murdered and molested, in the Scottish hamlet's river. It is a gruesome event but particularly disturbing for the devout and respectable local residents who believe that nothing that vile could ever happen in their idyllic village.

The editors of the Highland Gazette are not so sure. Their lively and nosy staff are only too happy to do their own investigating and are spurred into action when the police, always suspicious of outsiders, arrest a Polish refugee.

The crusading editor and his crew are likable and convincing, particularly the typist Joanne Ross, whose fierce ambition to become a full-time reporter is thwarted by her violent husband and disapproving in-laws.

The conservative townspeople, along with the police, believe the right man is in jail. But the editors of the Gazette continue to probe. Ultimately they discover not only clues to the real killer but also a tangle of scandals that lie beneath the town's placid surface.

Although the finale is clumsy, and at times the plot wanders, the book still sparkles with creativity and wit.

Shirley K. Murray is a writer living in University City.

Judy Moresi

When • 7 p.m. Thursday

Where • Left Bank Books, 399 North Euclid Avenue

How much • Free

More info • 314-367-6731

'Widow's Walk'

A novel by Judy Moresi

Published by L&L Dreamspell, 222 pages, $15.95 (paperback)

'Half-Price Homicide'

A novel by Elaine Viets

Published by Obsidian, 261 pages, $22.95

'A Small Death in the Great Glen'

A novel by A.D. Scott

Published by Atria, 393 pages, $15 (paperback)