Tourist season

Just as gleefully ghoulish as fans will expect, this series-launching black comedy from bestseller Weaver (Butcher and Blackbird) pairs two serial killers in a quirky coastal town. After running from a traumatic past, Harper Starling landed in Cape Carnage, where she was taken under the wing of aging serial murderer Arthur Lancaster, who trained her to "protect the town" by dispatching obnoxious tourists. Now Arthur's memory is failing, meaning that most of the slaying and body disposal falls on Harper. Enter Nolan Rhodes, who has devoted his life to methodically hunting down the people who left him and his brother for dead in a hit and run--and Harper is the last name on his list. The pair meet cute before either realizes who the other is and their mutual attraction never fades even as they enter a deliciously dangerous game of cat and mouse. When a true crime documentarian starts poking around town, Harper blackmails Nolan into helping her cover Arthur's tracks, taking the story in a somewhat more tedious direction as they set aside their animosity to spend each night exhuming decades-old bodies. Also frustrating is a central miscommunication between the characters that feels increasingly contrived as it drags on. Still, there's plenty of humor, gore, and spice to hold readers' interest. Weaver's good at what she does. (Sept.)