The Body in the Gazebo (Faith Fairchild Series #19)

by Katherine Hall Page

Overview

"I have to tell you something . . . something that happened a long time ago."

These words, spoken by Ursula Rowe from her Aleford, Massachusetts, sickbed, takeFaith Fairchild completely by surprise. Having agreed to keep an eye on her best friendPix Millers's mother while Pix is involved in her son's out-of-town wedding preparations,Faith never dreamed she'd become ensnared in the tale the slowly recovering Ursula spinsover the next few weeks—a bizarre account of an unsolved crime dating back to theGreat Depression. Now the caterer-turned-sleuth is hooked, determined to solve a mysterymore than eight decades old—while at the same time trying to clear the name of herhusband, Reverend Thomas Fairchild, who's been falsely accused of pilfering the church'sdiscretionary fund.

And meanwhile, when Pix Miller meets her in-laws-to-be for the veryfirst time, she's in for the shock of her life . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061474286
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/24/2012
Series:	Faith Fairchild Series , #19
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	848,445
Product dimensions:	4.28(w) x 6.62(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Katherine Hall Page is the author of twenty previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery. The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story "The Would-Be Widower." She has also been a nominee for the Edgar Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband.

Editorial Reviews

A pleasant, well-rounded story....A lovely dish.

Iron Mountain Daily News on The Body in the Gazebo

Fast-paced.

Oklahoman on The Body in the Gazebo

Expertly crafted.

The Patriot Ledger (MA) on The Body in the Gazebo

A pleasant, well-rounded story....A lovely dish.

Iron Mountain Daily News on The Body in the Gazebo

Two puzzles tax Faith Fairchild in Agatha-winner Page's genial 19th mystery featuring the Aleford, Mass., caterer and amateur sleuth (after 2009's The Body in the Sleigh). When an audit finds more than ,000 missing from the minister's discretionary fund at Aleford's First Parish Church, suspicion falls on Faith's husband, the Rev. Thomas Fairchild, the only person with access to the account. To complicate matters, Ursula Rowe, Faith's friend Pix Miller's elderly and ailing mother, asks Faith's help in dealing with the disquieting letters she's recently received. Secrets, the kind that fester and can make even strong people ill, reach back to the 1920s. Faith juggles her many roles of wife, mother, businesswoman, and confidant with steadfast assurance as she looks into the missing church funds and provides relief for Ursula. Series fans will relish the descriptions of tempting culinary offerings. Recipes round out the volume. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Genial....Series fans will relish the descriptions of tempting culinary offerings.” — Publishers Weeklyon The Body in the Gazebo

“Fast-paced.” — Oklahoman on The Body in the Gazebo

“A pleasant, well-rounded story....A lovely dish.” — Iron Mountain Daily News on The Body in the Gazebo

“Expertly crafted.” — The Patriot Ledger (MA) on The Body in the Gazebo

“Katherine Hall Page’s gift for storytelling comes vividly alive as she seamlessly creates a fast-paced, intricate mystery, keeping the suspense simmering until the last pages.” — McCormick Messenger on The Body in the Gazebo

From the Publisher

Katherine Hall Page’s gift for storytelling comes vividly alive as she seamlessly creates a fast-paced, intricate mystery, keeping the suspense simmering until the last pages.

McCormick Messenger on The Body in the Gazebo

A caterer juggles three mysteries: one old, one new—and the third both borrowed and blue.

If only Faith Fairchild's life could be as simple as her recipes. (Who'da thunk anyone would need an entire page of directions to explain how to sauté some potatoes with sage?) But no sooner does her best friend, Pix Rowe Miller, leave town than Pix's elderly mom confides that unbeknownst to her children, Ursula Rowe had a wastrel brother, Theo, who was murdered in the eponymous gazebo one summer at Martha's Vineyard. Meanwhile, old sourpuss Sherman Monroe accuses Rev. Thomas Fairchild, Faith's husband, of pilfering $10,000 from the Minister's Discretionary Fund. Finally, a rather pixilated Pix calls from Hilton Head, where she and her husband Sam are helping their son plan his big fat South Carolina intermarriage by consuming inordinate amounts of champagne. She lays on Faith (The Body in the Sleigh, 2009, etc.) the news that, in college, she downed a considerable amount of punch and slept with the bride's father, Dr. Stephen Cohen—and now he doesn't even remember. Faith juggles the three puzzles while dispensing Gunpowder Punch at the library and Fruit Breakfast Puffs at the Uppity Women's Luncheon Club, all the time pining for her native New York, as Page reminds readers every other paragraph.

Even for a minister's wife, the devil's in the details. Page's persistent lack of precision (Faith goes to New York to eat a pastrami on rye with an egg cream—two Big Apple treats not known to be served together) undermines her authenticity.

Kirkus Reviews