A missing engineer, a reluctant psychic gardener, an outspoken advice columnist cum pathologist, and an elderly bird enthusiast are some of the colorful characters in Jo Bannister's entertaining The Primrose Convention. Primrose, the nearly 200-pound columnist, dives with gusto into the mysterious disappearance of a reader's brother in Scotland, dragging her resourceful friends and associates with her into sleuthing and danger. Bannister specializes in painting full-bodied characters and settings with a few vivid strokes, and her canvases are meant to be savored.

-Elizabeth Foxwell