Libby, a former flame of Hitchcock Sewell, has returned to town with her two children, but minus one husband and one nanny. Libby's husband has been accounted for -- she left him back in Annapolis. However, the nanny, Sophie, is truly missing. As soon as Hitch starts to nose around, Sophie turns up -- literally -- in the Severn River. She's quite dead, and just a little bit pregnant. The police suspect suicide, but Sophie's mom is adamant it's murder. Hitch's sense? He sides with the mother. Racing around town, Hitch finds more questions than answers. Murder in the Hearse Degree is another pitch-perfect mystery in a series that never disappoints, always surprises, and keeps the laughs -- and corpses -- rolling right along.