Death of a Dean - Hardcover

Holt, Hazel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1603811982 ISBN 13: 9781603811989

Publisher: Coffeetown Press, 2012

Synopsis

While in Stratford, widow Sheila Malory always stays with her old friend, actor David Beaumont. On this visit she finds him in dire straits: his career is on the skids and his finances are in ruins. Unless he can convince his penny-pinching brother Francis to sell their jointly owned family home in the seaside village of Taviscombe, the bank will repossess his cottage. Francis, Dean of the Culminster Cathedral, does not believe that charity begins at home. He refuses to put the house on the market or provide a loan. Mrs. Malory offers David a place to stay in her own home in Taviscombe so that the two brothers might meet in person to find a solution. Even if Francis can be persuaded to sell, one impediment remains: their ancient and addled nanny has been told that she can stay in the home until she dies. Even after Nana's sudden death, Francis insists that they hold on to the property. When he dies from consuming high tea laced with poison, the police conclude that both deaths were murder. Unfortunately David is their prime suspect. Determined to clear her friend's name, Mrs. Malory applies her considerable skills as an amateur sleuth to identify the real culprit. She has seen her share of evil, but even Mrs. Malory is shocked by what her investigation turns up. Death of a Dean is the seventh of Hazel Holt's Mrs. Malory mysteries.

About this title

About the Author:

Hazel Holt was born in Birmingham, England, where she attended King Edward VI High School for Girls. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, and went on to work at the International African Institute in London, where she became acquainted with the novelist Barbara Pym, whose biography she later wrote. She also finished one of Pym s novels after Pym died. Holt has also recently published My Dear Charlotte, a story that uses the actual language of Jane Austen's letters to her sister Cassandra to construct a Regency murder mystery. Holt wrote her first novel in her sixties, and is a leading crime novelist. She is best known for her Mrs. Malory series. Her son is novelist Tom Holt.

From AudioFile:

What does an actor do when his TV series ends and he's been typecast for life? David Beaumont finds it to be a challenge. Then his brother, the dean of a cathedral, suddenly is murdered, and David becomes the prime suspect. Luckily, his old friend, Sheila Mallory, sets out to help clear his name. Patricia Gallimore gives a spirited narration. She sets a good pace and moves the story along. Her empathy for the characters comes through strongly. Some voices, particularly those of males, are a little strained, but they serve their purpose and are balanced by others that are perfect. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Coffeetown Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1603811982
• ISBN 13: 9781603811989
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 202