Ava James and the Ivy Grove

Ava James and the Ivy Grove opens the Ava James FBI Mystery series, a spin-off from A.J. Rivers's Emma Griffin novels. Ava, still finding her footing after a harrowing first assignment shadowing Agent Griffin, is invited to a gala weekend honoring her aunt, a woman who has given her life to a charitable foundation.

What should be a break before her next case in Harlan turns into something else when a death at the event is written off as suicide too quickly for Ava's comfort. Pulling at the thread leads her into the Foundation's finances, its donors, and the version of her own family she thought she knew.

Rivers writes short, briskly plotted procedurals aimed at readers who want a case resolved in a sitting or two. This one works as an entry point to Ava's series without requiring the Emma Griffin books.