THE BODY IN THE BONFIRE

The 12th in the author’s chronicles of New England caterer/sleuth Faith Fairchild removes her from the side of her minister husband Tom and their children Amy and Ben for some undercover work in Mansfield Academy, a nearby private boys’ high school, where Patsy Avery, Faith’s longtime lawyer friend, occasionally teaches. One of her students, junior Daryl Martin, has been the target of racist e-mails, newspaper clippings, and now a noose placed on a pillow. Patsy urges Faith to teach a cooking class at the school and use her detective skills to uncover Daryl’s tormenter. Taking the job in the kitchen of Mansfield’s Charleton House, Faith holds up a magnifying glass to students and staff ranging from headmaster Robert Harcourt and his flamboyant wife Zoe to games mistress Connie Reed, some oddball professors, and a few rather strange students like slick, handsome Sloane Buxton. As Faith sneakily searches rooms, tries to find out who’s tampering with her kitchen ingredients and who has stolen Zoe’s precious jewels, Sloane turns up missing, only to be found dead on the school’s annual Bonfire Night. It takes another death, a lot more snooping, and the discovery of computer records and a host of uncovered secrets before Faith has all the answers.

Clarity and suspense are often lost to slow-moving gossip, but Faith’s fans are sure to be pleased with another of the author’s always readable stories.