Synopses & Reviews
Ellie Haskell—the formerly plump girl turned Thin Woman, happily married mother of three, Gothic romance addict, and sometime sleuth—is back!
When her in-laws invite her to Yorkshire moors, Ellie cant resist. The name “Cragstone House” just sounds so much like the delightfully musty manors she reads about in books! And so she and her husband set off for Yorkshire, accompanied by their irrepressible housekeeper and co-conspirator in crime solving, Mrs. Roxie Malloy. But things at Cragstone turn out far less idyllic than Ellie expected. First the kindly cook, Mrs. Cake, suffers a mysterious fall down the stairs. Then a visiting vicar meets his death after drinking a cup of tea. Ellie has always thought it would be wonderful to be the heroine of a Gothic romance…but now shes beginning to wonder: Will she and Roxie be able to solve the mystery and get out of Brontë country alive? Or has Ellie reached the tragic dead end of her own fairy tale?
“One of the year's funniest and most engaging mysteries.”—Elizabeth Peters, New York Times bestselling author of the Amelia Peabody mysteries
“A veritable meringue of a book, light and crisp and airy, but with enough of a puzzle to engage and entertain the reader.”—Denver Post
Review
Praise for Dorothy Cannell and her Ellie Haskell Mysteries
"Dorothy Cannell continues to astonish me with her wit."
---Joan Hess
"Thoroughly entertaining."
---Cosmopolitan
"Wickedly witty, good bubbly fun."
---Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Sparkling wit and outlandish characters."
---Chicago Sun-Times
"Cannell pushes the British cozy into the contemporary world."
---Booklist
Review
“One of the year's funniest and most engaging mysteries.”—Elizabeth Peters, New York Times bestselling author of the Amelia Peabody mysteries
“A veritable meringue of a book, light and crisp and airy, but with enough of a puzzle to engage and entertain the reader.”—Denver Post
Synopsis
Ellie Haskell---the formerly plump girl turned Thin Woman and happily married mother of three---is also a sometime sleuth and a Gothic romance addict. When her husband's young cousin, Ariel, turns up unexpectedly and begs Ellie to come to the Yorkshire moors to investigate some strange events at the house that her family has recently bought with their lottery winnings, Ellie can't resist---especially since Cragstone House sounds so much like the delightfully musty manors she reads about in books.
And so Ellie and her husband set off for Yorkshire, accompanied by their irrepressible housekeeper and co-conspirator in crime solving, Mrs. Roxie Malloy, who happens to have a long-lost sister in the area. Things at Cragstone House are even more dire than Ellie expected. It's bad enough that the kindly cook, Mrs. Cake, has suffered a mysterious fall down the stairs, and a visiting vicar has keeled over dead while drinking a cup of tea, but one of the neighbors turns out to be Mrs. Cake's husband's glamorous old flame, whom Ellie finds more menacing than any cold-blooded killer. Ellie has always thought it would be wonderful to be the heroine of a Gothic romance, but now she's beginning to wonder: Will she be able to solve the mystery and get out of Bronte country with her life, and her marriage, intact?
Synopsis
When her in-laws invite her to Yorkshire moors, Ellie cant resist. The name “Cragstone House” just sounds so much like the delightfully musty manors she reads about in books! And so she and her husband set off for Yorkshire, accompanied by their irrepressible housekeeper and co-conspirator in crime solving, Mrs. Roxie Malloy. But things at Cragstone turn out far less idyllic than Ellie expected. First the kindly cook, Mrs. Cake, suffers a mysterious fall down the stairs. Then a visiting vicar meets his death after drinking a cup of tea. Ellie has always thought it would be wonderful to be the heroine of a Gothic romance…but now shes beginning to wonder: Will she and Roxie be able to solve the mystery and get out of Brontë country alive? Or has Ellie reached the tragic dead end of her own fairy tale?
About the Author
Dorothy Cannell, a mother of four, grandmother of ten, and owner of a King Charles Spaniel, was born in England and moved to the United States when she was twenty. After living in Peoria, Illinois, she and her husband moved to Belfast, Maine. Her first Ellie Haskell novel, The Thin Woman, was selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Twentieth Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. The twelfth mystery featuring Ellie, whom Booklist describes as "part Miss Marple, part modern British mum," is Goodbye, Ms. Chips, available from St. Martin's Minotaur.