The Llama of Death (Gunn Zoo Series) - Hardcover

Webb, Betty

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1464200661 ISBN 13: 9781464200663

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2013

Synopsis

Zookeeper Theodora 'Teddy' Bentley takes Alejandro, the Gunn Zoo llama, to a Monterey Bay area Renaissance Faire. Soon after, Teddy stumbles upon the still-warm body of the Reverend Victor Emerson, owner of the local wedding chapel. He is dressed in his royal robes as Henry VIII. At first it appears as if Alejandro stomped the man to death, but a closer look reveals a crossbow dart in the man's back.

Teddy's investigation proves the "reverend" is really an escaped convict, and every marriage he's performed in the past twenty years is null and void. He twice married Teddy's ex-beauty queen mother Caro to wealthy men, and when both marriages failed, Caro received large financial settlements. Now she may have to give all that money back.

But Caro wasn't the only person with a grievance against Victor. The child of the man Victor once murdered may have wanted to kill him, too. Then Teddy's embezzling father flies in from exile in Costa Rica to help spring Caro from jail, putting his own freedom in jeopardy. Can Teddy solve this case before someone else she knows is implicated?

About this title

About the Author:

As a journalist, Betty Webb interviewed U.S. presidents, astronauts, and Nobel Prize winners, as well as the homeless, dying, and polygamy runaways. The dark Lena Jones mysteries are based on stories she covered as a reporter. Betty's humorous Gunn Zoo series debuted with the critically acclaimed The Anteater of Death, followed by The Koala of Death. A book reviewer at Mystery Scene Magazine, Betty is a member of National Federation of Press Women, Mystery Writers of America, and the National Organization of Zoo Keepers. www.bettywebb-zoomystery.com

From Booklist:

Zookeeper Teddy Bentley is at the Gunn Landing (California) Renaissance Faire to give llama rides to children when mail-order reverend Victor Emerson is found dead in the llama pen, shot with a crossbow dart. With her sheriff fiancé out of town and unreachable for at least a week, Teddy begins her own investigation after the incompetent acting sheriff arrests Teddy’s mother for the murder. She soon learns that the “reverend” married many of the local residents but was not legally able to do so, due to his using an assumed name—one of many secrets in his past. As Teddy investigates her friends and colleagues, she learns they also have dark sides. Of course, that’s true of her own family, and one of those dark sides, her embezzler father, helps solve the murder. Quirky characters and the zookeeper frame story add zest to this engaging cozy mystery that will appeal to fans of Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow mysteries. --Sue OBrien

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1464200661
• ISBN 13: 9781464200663
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 250