The Turnbull Murders is the second in R.J. Koreto’s Wren Fontaine series. Wren has taken a job renovating a mansion on an island in the New York Harbor. The house has been bought by a movie star and he and his entourage are filming on the island as Wren works. Very soon after Nicky Tallon, Saffron, Thalia and all the other actors arrive, a PR rep Beebee is found dead. The coffee was poisoned by fentanyl and because it was Saffron’s drink, the police assume she was the target.

Several people within the entourage have secrets. Wren and Hadley, who is catering the food for the movie people, painstakingly uncover the secrets at the same time they delve into the secrets of the house. The story behind it is that Captain Turnbull, who built it, murdered a male servant for developing a relationship with his sister and then escaped to sea. Needless to say, the reality was a lot more complicated.

A second murder occurs and then a third is attempted. But Wren, despite her often repeated statement that she is not good with people, figures everything out.

I read the first book and I think this second one is the better story. But both are interesting and I plan to read the third. The use of an architect as the amateur detective is unusual and Wren’s unraveling the mysteries based on patterns connected to the houses is interesting. Recommended.