An Intimate Ghost (Jane Lawless Mysteries) - Hardcover

Hart, Ellen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312317476 ISBN 13: 9780312317478

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2004

Synopsis

Restaurateur Jane Lawless is thrilled to be catering the wedding of some family friends, Nick and Lauren Clifford, but when Jane arrives at the wedding, she's in for a shock of a lifetime-and one that could jeopardize her career. The food has been spiked with hallucinogenic mushrooms and the drug-hazed guests are engaged in reckless behavior.

When the groom takes a near fatal dive into an empty pool, an investigation begins and Jane turns to her best friend Cordelia Thorn for help in clearing her name. But when Cordelia's sister, Octavia, suddenly deserts her infant daughter on Cordelia's doorstep, Jane is on her own. Events take a turn for the worse when the father of the groom comes up against shocking accusations, and it's up to Jane to uncover the truth.

Once again, Ellen Hart has woven intriguing characters and surprising twists into a complex and absorbing story.

About this title

About the Author

Ellen Hart, multiple Lambda Award winner and two-time Minnesota Book Award winner, is the author of twelve Jane Lawless mysteries, including most recently An Intimate Ghost, and the Sophie Greenway mystery series. She lives in Minneapolis.

From Publishers Weekly

An urgent message summons Jane Lawless to an unexpected psychedelic spectacleâ€"the entire wedding party of a schoolteacher acquaintance tripping outâ€"in Lambda Awardâ€"winner Hart's 11th assured mystery (after 2001's Merchant of Venus) to feature the Minnesota restaurateur and sometime sleuth. Someone has slipped a hallucinogenic mickey into Jane's catering staff's delectable comestibles, causing much embarrassment, litigation and one life-threatening injury when the groom leaps into an empty swimming pool. The poignant history of the groom's father, Alden Clifford, provides the ballast for this richly layered narrative, in which the suspense builds as the author slowly reveals the defining moment that overshadows all Alden's subsequent actions. Jane's longtime sidekick and co-investigator, Cordelia Thorn, is as diverting as ever, while the romantic atmosphere of Jane's Lyme House restaurant and the piquant offerings on the upscale menu will delight fans of culinary cozies. Touches of humor offset the heartfelt woe. Incorporating societal ills torn from the headlines, Hart bares the weaknesses in her well-realized characters as well as their strengths. Despite a plot refreshingly short on guns and gore, the tension is palpable in this spunky page-turner.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0312317476
• ISBN 13: 9780312317478
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320