Part of Aunt Dimity Mystery, book 13
First published 2003
Lori Shepherd comes home from America to devastating news. Prunella Hooper, known as "Pruneface" to the locals, lies dead. Murder has struck the village of Finch for the first time in more than one hundred years. The tight-knit community reels from shock and suspicion. Lori knows she must act before paranoia tears her neighbors apart. She begins hunting for the killer, but the task proves daunting. Nearly every resident harbored resentment against Mrs. Hooper. The ghostly Aunt Dimity offers guidance from beyond, while Nicholas, an attractive self-defense instructor with mysterious depths, provides earthly assistance. Together they help Lori piece together the puzzle. She must match motives to opportunities and means to moments. The investigation leads her through layers of village gossip and long-held grudges. Lori discovers that solving murder requires more than logic. It demands understanding the human heart and its capacity for both love and hatred.
Genres: fiction, mystery, contemporary, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, cozy, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family
Setting: Finch, America
Period: contemporary
230 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Penguin Books