Synopses & Reviews
In her thirteen previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, Katherine Hall Page has proven to be one of the most beloved and masterful writers of the village mystery. But when caterer Faith Fairchild's husband's job takes the family out of peaceful Aleford, Massachusetts, and into greater Boston, death rears its ugly head in the big city as well.
Fall is in the air -- its crisp chill hinting at the approaching holiday season -- yet Faith Fairchild's minister husband, Tom, is not in a festive mood. His job has become routine, and his parish seems to care more about church gossip than worship or service, leaving him doubting his own effectiveness. So when the opportunity to teach for a semester at Harvard's Divinity School comes up, he leaps at the chance . . . but Faith is reluctant. After all, this New York City girl has just gotten used to life in Aleford -- and now she has to move? But soon Faith relents, and within months the family has settled happily into a large, old home in historic Cambridge, just across the river from Boston.
Faith is shocked when she runs into an old boyfriend in downtown Boston. Thirteen years before, Richard Morgan had swept Faith off her feet, then disappeared. But the intelligent, handsome man's return is a happy one for Faith as their friendship is renewed.
Back in Cambridge, though, something is amiss in the temporary Fairchilds' residence.
Faith discovers a diary hidden in the attic by a woman living there in 1946. It reveals unspeakable horror, and soon dark secrets seem to permeate every room. Richard Morgan has secrets of his own, too, and Faith is caught up in solving the mysteries . . . with a murderer lurking a little too close to home.
Review
“Intriguing.” Bangor Daily News
Synopsis
Agatha Award-winning author Katherine Hall Page's fourteenth delightful mystery takes caterer Faith Fairchild to historic Cambridge, Massachusetts, where dark secrets lurk in the attic of the old home she and her family are renting.
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 X collection (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.