Close to Home — Cynthia Baxter

When Jessica MacAllister takes time off from her career to move to the suburbs and become a full time wife and mother, it's not all Ozzie and Harriet. Then her cigar-chomping real-estate agent is murdered, and she can't resist investigating. Jessica teams up with the victim's charming â€" and surprisingly attentive â€" younger brother, meanwhile wrestling with her own ambivalence about her new role. Contemporary mystery by Cynthia Baxter writing as Cynthia Blair; originally published by Ballantine