The Popsicle Tree (A Dick Hardesty Mystery, #9)

Following the death of the parents of Jonathan''s four-year-old nephew Joshua, Dick and his partner find themselves in a new role: parents. As if fatherhood didn''t bring enough of a set of challenges, the mother of one of Joshua''s new friends is murdered, sending Dick on a trail to find out who killed her and why. With a list of suspects ranging from a lesbian ex-partner to the boy''s race-car-driver father, Dick is soon embroiled in a case so complicated that child-rearing begins to look easier than solving the case.