1 NYTbestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns with a puzzling case in which her favorite sleuths must untangle a slew of secrets to expose a coldblooded murdererWhen a middleaged spinster is found strangled in her country cottage and scurrilous gossip implicates Henry Lord Glossup he appeals to Barnaby and Penelope Adair along with Inspector Stokes to unravel the mystery of who killed Viola HuntingdonHenry Lord Glossup arrives on Barnaby and Penelope Adairs doorstep and begs their aidand that of Stokesin identifying the murderer of Viola Huntingdon a middleaged spinster who lived a largely blameless life in a country cottage in a tiny village close to Henrys home As Stokes has already been tapped to take the case the investigators travel to Salisbury and thence to Ashmore village and throw themselves into the caseWhile initially Henry was touted as a suspect he is quickly eliminated and with the help of the victims sister Madeline the investigators set out to discover all they can about the victim and who might have wished her ill In such a small village with a commensurately small population the list of possible suspects is short but the existence of Violas secret admirer H has everyone stumped First how could Viola living in such a small community have had a secret visitor a man no one saw except at a distance And who on earth is he this HAs the investigators piece together the clues of missing jewelry and sightings of H and follow the leads generated by...
