Georgie knows plumbing can be a messy occupation, but doesn’t realize just how messy until she finds former town librarian Martha Tepper's favorite brooch in a clogged sink in a warehouse.

 Everyone knew Martha was ready to retire to Arizona but no one has actually heard from her or seen her in a while. After showing the pin around town, Georgie is convinced it is Martha’s and that she wouldn’t have left without the brooch she wore every day. 

Martha also left many loose ends, such as not changing her phone number or forwarding her mail.  Sandra is handling the sale of Martha’s house with attorneys Rick and Rachel Gladstone, but as Georgie notices when she and Barry are hired to overhaul the plumbing, nothing has been packed or moved, not even a suitcase full of clothes. 

Georgie tries to convince the police and her possible boyfriend, town councilman Wade, that something terrible has happened to Martha. A couple of accidents convince Georgie that she’s on the right trail and that someone is close on her tail trying to stop her.   

The first in a new series, Sink Trap reintroduces Georgie Neverall into the community in which she grew up.  While we learn a little bit about her through her relationships with her mother and best friends Sue and Wade, there is still a lot unknown.  There are hints that she is thinking of opening a Martial Arts studio, or wishes one would open, but practices it sporadically, though that is what ultimately saves her life. 

Georgie is wishy-washy in her relationship with Wade and uncomfortable around her mother, a relationship that changes for the better during the course of the book.  The mystery of Martha is not as tight as it could be, and the how and why Martha and the brooch were separated is never really explained satisfactorily.  When Martha’s caregiver/companion of the last few years arrives to claim her personal effects from the house, very few people seem aware of Janis’s existence, even though the town is small and many people, including Barry’s wife Paula, seemed to know Martha well. 

There are a couple of half-hearted also-rans for suspects, but the real culprits are easy to pick out.  The most interesting part of the book is the development of Georgie and Sandra’s relationship, something that is sure to develop further, along with Georgie and Wade’s relationship.  Some useful plumbing hints are also thrown in.    

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry