Synopses & Reviews
Jane Lawless is a woman at a crossroads - her lover has left, she has finally recovered from a vicious attack sustained last year, and the holidays are closing in. With no one to help her ring in the new year, Jane reluctantly agrees to accompany her good friend Cordelia Thorn on a peculiar holiday trip: Cordelia's estranged sister, Broadway star Octavia Thorn, has asked them to attend her wedding.
Octavia getting married is no surprise - she's done it three times before - but her candidate for hubby #4 certainly is. Roland Lester is a reclusive eighty-three-year-old retired Hollywood director, a relic from the golden age of Tinseltown with a controversial past. No one can understand how the two met, much less fell in love. When the bodies start to drop, Jane realizes it might not be love at all that brought the young diva and the aged director together, but something much deeper, and perhaps more sinister.
Delving deep into film history, Jane finds unsettling connections between Roland and a murder that was never solved. Finding out what happened 40 years ago could be the key to unlock the mystery of Octavia's curious marriage, but laying bare such long-buried secrets also promises grave consequences for everyone involved.
Synopsis
Ellen Hart's witty debut mystery--a Lambda and Minnesota Book Award finalist--sheds light on Jane Lawless's youthful beginnings The first of the early Ellen Hart mysteries to be reissued by Minotaur, Hallowed Murder takes readers back to the beginning of it all, the first Jane Lawless mystery. The police call Allison Lord's drowning a suicide, but her housemates at her University of Minnesota sorority insist it was murder. That's when alumnae advisor Jane Lawless steps in to find out the truth. Abetted by her irrepressible sidekick Cordelia Thorn, Jane searches for clues, and what she discovers is as chilling as the Minnesota winter--for in those icy drifts, at a lonely vacation house, Jane finds that she must risk everything to ensnare a cunning killer. Now, a whole new generation of readers will be able to follow Jane Lawless from her delightful, suspenseful beginnings.
Synopsis
Jane gets a shock at a wedding she's hired to cater: arriving late to check in with her crew, she finds that guests are in various stages of undress on the lawn, many seem to be taking an unnatural interest in mundane objects like houseplants and the night sky, and more than a few are engaged in some very indiscreet activities in plain view. It doesn't take Jane long to figure out that someone has spiked the food at the party, most likely with hallucinogenic mushrooms. As the police arrive, the groom takes an unfortunate dive into an empty swimming pool and Jane realizes that if she can't figure out exactly what has happened the blame will fall squarely on her own shoulders.
Synopsis
When the bodies start to drop, Jane Lawless realizes it might not be love at all that brought a young diva and an aged director together, but something perhaps more sinister. But laying bare such long-buried secrets also promises grave consequences for everyone involved.
About the Author
Ellen Hart is the award-winning author of nine mysteries featuring Jane Lawless and also a series featuring food critic Sophie Greenway. She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.