2025-05-03
The turn of the 20th century finds France hosting both the Paris Exposition and the second Olympic Games. But the real buzz concerns a murder mystery.
Frances Hazelton, Countess of Harleigh, and her aristocratic English husband, George Hazelton, are no strangers to solving crimes. Having remained in Paris after cracking a murder case there, they’re dealing with family business, visits from Frances’ sister Lily, who’s exhausted by her newborn baby, and the impending arrival of their mother. One day at a picnic, Frances is approached by Alicia Stoke-Whitney, whom Frances has rarely seen since her first husband died in Alicia’s bed. Alicia asks her to investigate Carlson Deaver, a wealthy American whose first wife, Isabelle, was murdered. Now he’s taken an interest in Alicia’s daughter. When Frances gets home, she finds George entertaining Inspector Daniel Cadieux, the detective they met on their first case in Paris. Frances asks if he knows anything about the death of Deaver’s wife, a case that’s still unsolved. Deaver’s wife was an actress, and Sarah Bernhardt recently came to the police with a note accusing her of the murder. But no one wants to investigate because Bernhardt is a national treasure. So Cadieux asks George and Frances to look into it. Their investigation is thorough, and many of the suspects are people they know socially. Deaver isn’t a very nice person, but he has an alibi, so they have to keep looking. The murder of an actress friend of Isabelle’s in Bernhardt’s dressing room turns up the pressure to find the killer.
A whodunit whose tangled plot and fascinating background will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
