Book excerpt: New York Times-Bestselling Author: In this “solid mystery,” a very pregnant sleuth races the clock to deliver justice to a killer (San Francisco Chronicle). With three kids underfoot, a fourth on the way, and an oppressive heat wave bearing down, homemaker Lucy Stone is hardly enjoying an idyllic summer. But her preoccupation with swelling ankles, Bavarian creme doughnut cravings, and sewing sequins on ballet-recital tutus gives way to dread when she learns her waistline isn’t the only thing that’s recently vanished. The strange disappearance of a retired dance instructor has the tiny coastal town of Tinker’s Cove, Maine, in a tizzy—that turns to terror when a notoriously cantankerous shopkeeper is slain right on Main Street. Now Lucy’s up to her bulging belly in suspects and red herrings. Eluded by a cold-blooded killer, with her due date looming and the temperature soaring, she figures something has to break soon. With any luck, it won’t be her water… “A surprising and intelligently constructed plot.”—Cape Cod Times “Packed with the details of small-town family life.”—Publishers Weekly “An endearing sleuth.”—Dorothy Cannell