Archers Rest, N.Y., is planning a big anniversary celebration. Will a body found buried in a backyard attract tourists or scare them away?
Amateur sleuth Nell Fitzgerald, of Someday Quilts, is dragooned into putting on a quilt show for the anniversary festivities by her grandmother Eleanor. But that’s the least of her problems. When a body is discovered in Eleanor’s backyard, Nell’s boyfriend Jesse Dewalt, the Archers Rest Chief-of-Police, has to investigate. The corpse has obviously been there for a long time, but Jesse still has to count Eleanor as a suspect. Eleanor worked for Grace Roemer, a wealthy elderly lady, whose house Eleanor bought for a dollar when she died. A little investigation reveals that Grace’s son Winston thought someone was taking advantage of his mother. Instead of acting on his suspicions, he seems to have gone off on a trip to South America and hasn’t been seen since. So Nell must put up with annoying suggestions from the ambitious mayor and the bossy lady helping to run the celebration in addition to pressure from a young Roemer relative who obviously thinks Eleanor did the deed.
O’Donohue (A Drunkard’s Path, 2009) provides a nicely assorted group of suspects to keep you guessing along with Nell.
