August Moon — Jess Lourey

Mira James' fury over getting stood up by Johnny Leeson is hotter than the scorching summer heat in this fourth Murder-by-Month mystery. She's getting out of Battle Lake, Minnesota, "where the women are churchgoers, the men like to hunt, and the body count is above average." But before our sassy young heroine can hightail it back to Minneapolis to become a "cat-collecting, fist-shaking, asexual English professor," a high school cheerleader is found murdered.

Mira instantly suspects Pastor Meale and his family, who run the evangelical New Millennium Bible Camp. Snooping around at the camp's Creation Science Fair only turns up a disturbing "Stepford Wives meets Hee Haw" atmosphere, which, to Mira's dismay, isn't a crime. Then heart-wrenching news from home almost sends Mira over the edge . . .

Before ditching this eccentric small town, Mira is hell-bent on confronting her own demons and catching a killer.