First published 2001
Goldy Schulz wakes to the crash of breaking glass in her Colorado home. Her husband Tom is away on police business, leaving her alone hours before her biggest catering job in weeks. She must prepare an elaborate Elizabethan feast at Hyde Castle, the Gothic estate of wealthy newcomers Eliot and Sukie Hyde. The morning of the banquet, Goldy discovers Andy Balachek floating dead in the creek beside the chapel. Balachek was a fugitive Tom had been hunting in connection with stolen stamps. When Tom arrives at the scene, a sniper shoots him. Goldy faces mounting chaos as her vengeful ex-husband returns from prison, a supernatural presence disrupts her preparations, and two former clients scheme to destroy her business. Tom hides secrets about a mysterious woman from his past. Goldy must navigate these dangers while serving her demanding guests and solving the murder that threatens everything she has built.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, cozy-mystery
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Colorado, Hyde Castle
Period: Elizabethan
320 pages · Hardcover · Bantam Books