Synopses & Reviews
Caterer Faith Fairchild has a bad feeling about her father-in-law's decision to celebrate his seventieth birthday with a family reunion ski week at the Pine Slopes resort in Vermont -- the Fairchilds' favorite getaway since Faith's husband, the Reverend Thomas Fairchild, was a toddler. At first her unease seems unfounded -- until Faith comes across a corpse on one of the cross-country trails, the apparent victim of a heart attack.
Then one catastrophe follows another: the mysterious disappearance of the Pine Slopes' master chef, a malicious prank at the sports center, a break-in at the Fairchild condo, the sabotage of a chairlift. And when a fatal "accident" with the snow-making machines stains the slopes blood red, Faith realizes she'll have to work fast to solve a murderous puzzle -- because suddenly not only are the reunion and the beloved resort's future in jeopardy . . . but Faith's life is as well.
Review
“[P]erfect puzzler.” Library Journal
Review
“Fun for all readers, and some great recipes, too.” The Stuart News (Stuart, Florida)
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“[A]n attractive setting, great characters, good food and murder most foul... A perfect Faith concoction.” Publishers Weekly
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“[W]ell told...close, careful observations of the complicated dynamics within large families...[Page] at her solid best.” New York Times Book Review
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“[W]ill leave her readers guessing until the very end and wanting another serving of Faith Fairchild.” Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Synopsis
Caterer Faith Fairchild and her family are off for a week-long stay at the Pine Slopes resort to celebrate a birthday. All is going smoothly until Faith stumbles upon the body of a local lawyer. Then the resort's star chef vanishes. Even the hardiest vacationers flee when they discover the slopes covered in red snow, the result of a body falling - or pushed - into the water supply for the snow-making machine. Faith must dig through an avalanche of clues that could bury her as well.
About the Author
Katherine Hall Page was born and grew up in New Jersey, graduating from Livingston High School. Her father was the Executive Director of The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and her mother is an artist. She has a brother and sister. Early on the family developed a love of the Maine coast, spending summer vacations on Deer Isle. She received her BA from Wellesley College, majoring in English and went on to a Masters in Secondary Education from Tufts and a Doctorate in Administration, Public Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard. College had brought her to Massachusetts and she continues to reside there. Before her career as a full-time writer, Ms. Page taught at the high school level for many years. She developed a program for adolescents with special emotional needs, a school within a school model, that dealt with issues of truancy, substance abuse, and family relationships. Those five years in particular were rich ones for her. This interest in individuals and human behavior later informed her writing.
Married for twenty-seven years to Professor Alan Hein, an experimental psychologist at MIT, the couple have one nineteen-year-old son. It was during her husband's sabbatical year in France after the birth of their son that Ms. Page wrote her first mystery, The Body in theBelfry, 1991 Agatha Award winner for Best First Mystery Novel. The thirteenth in the series, The Body in the Lighthouse, will be published by William Morrow in the spring. Ms. Page was also awarded the 2001 Agatha for Best Short Story for "The Would-Be Widower" in the Malice Domestic Xcollection (Avon Books). She was an Edgar nominee for her juvenile mystery, Christie&Company Down East.
Descended from Norwegian-Americans on her mother's side and New Englanders on her father's, Ms. Page grew up listening to all sorts of stories. She remains an unabashed eavesdropper and will even watch your slides or home movies to hear your narration. Her books are the product of all the strands of her life and she plans to keep weaving.