[Robin Light 07] • Blowing Smoke

In the seventh installment of Barbara Block's critically-acclaimed mystery series, private investigator Robin Light sets out to uncover the truth about an elderly heiress' connection to an enigmatic stranger who may -- or may not -- be communicating with the dead.With Syracuse suffocating under a shroud of relentless summer heat, Robin Light's exotic pet store business is slow -- and her semi-pro detective business is even slower. But Robin's seasonal tedium and her financial crisis are about to be remedied, thanks to a trio of adult siblings who are certain something sinister is simmering at their widowed mother's mansion.

Rose Taylor's children -- Hillary, Louis and Amy -- are convinced their inheritance is being squandered by their mother, whom they believe is the unwitting victim of a scam. The con woman in question: so-called pet psychic Pat Humphrey, who located Rose's supposedly kidnapped cat and won not just a substantial reward, but the woman's undying gratitude -- and a place in her will.

Assuming she's a fraud, Robin visits Humphrey, posing as a client seeking advice about her dog -- and comes away with startling evidence that the woman might just be the real thing. Then Pat Humphrey disappears -- just as the body of the Taylors' buxom maid is found floating in the swimming pool.

As the sizzling dog days unfold, Robin finds herself embroiled in a case that takes one shocking twist after another, as she tracks a cold-blooded killer.