PERIL ON THE PAGE
by Margaret Loudon
An American writer-in-residence in England is involved in yet another murder.
Penelope Parish, who crossed the Atlantic to enhance her ability to write bestselling gothic novels, works and writes at the Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke. Among her new friends is Odile Fontaine, a talented art teacher at the Oakwood School for Girls, who’s written a book that’s launched with a wine and paint party at the bookstore. After Odile takes ill at the party and dies in the hospital, Penelope finds herself drawn into what looks more and more like a murder. She soon learns that all is not well at Oakwood, where she’s giving a seminar on gothic literature, between divisions among the staff and drinking problems among the students. In addition, a valuable Matisse painting passed down in Odile’s family has gone missing, and there’s a great deal still unknown to Penelope’s love interest, Detective Brodie Maguire, as he juggles Odile’s murder and a jewel theft. Penelope’s decision to keep things she’s learned to herself doesn’t reckon with a killer who’s willing to strike again. As it turns out, the two cases are related, and Penelope’s efforts to puzzle things out on her own put her in a very dangerous position.
The suspects and interlocking crimes keep the intrepid heroine so busy she barely has time to finish that next bestseller.