Part of Death on Demand, book 6
First published 1991
Annie Laurance runs a mystery bookstore and wants nothing to do with her neighbor's Valentine's Day masked ball. The voluptuous brunette hostess made unwelcome advances toward Annie's husband Max, giving Annie every reason to stay home. When her unpredictable mother-in-law Laurel arrives unexpectedly on Broward's Rock Island, Annie sees the perfect excuse to avoid the party. Laurel has other plans. She accepts the invitation for all three of them, dragging Annie into the very situation she hoped to escape. The evening takes a deadly turn when Annie discovers the amorous hostess murdered in the gazebo. Now Annie must navigate the aftermath of a crime that strikes close to home, where personal grudges and island secrets collide in the most dangerous way possible.
Genres: mystery, thriller, contemporary-romance, amateur-sleuth
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Broward's Rock Island
Period: 20th-century
272 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Crimeline