BOOK 2 IN THE AGATHA AWARD-WINNING SERIES

“[In] her superior second cozy, Malliet's satirical take on the mystery scene is spot-on.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Malliet excels at stylish writing very reminiscent of the golden age of British mysteries.  A real find for old-school mystery fans."
—Booklist (starred review)

“An absolutely delicious skewering of the world of mystery publishing and its none-too-savory denizens, Death and the Lit Chick is even wittier and more skillfully constructed than her Agatha Award-winning Death of a Cozy Writer.”
—Denver Post

 

Cold-blooded murder is, like, totally un-cool

As the wildly successful darling of the publishing industry, chick lit mystery writer Kimberlee Kalder is the guest of honor at an exclusive writers' conference at Dalmorton Castle in Scotland. But jealousy and resentment are soon replaced with shock when Kimberlee is found dead at the bottom of the castle's bottle dungeon.

Who didn't want to see prima donna Kimberlee brutally extinguished like one of her ill-fated characters? It's up to Detective Chief Inspector St. Just to track down the true killer in a castle full of cagey mystery connoisseurs who live and breathe malicious murder and artful alibis . . .

 

Acclaim for the bestselling Death of a Cozy Writer, the first St. Just Mystery:

"[A] delightful homage to the great novels of Britain's Golden Age of Mysteries."
—Nancy Pearl, NPR commentator and author of Book Lust

Death of a Cozy Writer won the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel and a silver medal for the IPPY awards in the category of Mystery/Suspense/Thriller.

Malliet's first novel Death of a Cozy Writer was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of 2008, nominated for a Left Coast Crime award (the Hawaii Five-O for best police procedural), short-listed for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel.

 

 

 

 

...

From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow – a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet... who was once suspected of murdering her husband.

Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upset – least of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk – an ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead?...

St. Michael's College, Cambridge, is prestigious, stately-and in frightful disrepair. To replenish its dwindling coffers, the College's Master holds a fundraising weekend for wealthy alums. But all goes awry when the glamorous-and despised-Lexy Laurant is found strangled on the grounds. There's a lengthy list of likely suspects: Lexy's debt-ridden Latino lover, her titled ex-husband who left her for another woman, and a garrulous oil-rich Texan with something to hide, among others. As Detective Chief Inspector St. Just weighs clashing egos, he discovers unsavory secrets . . . and a most shocking twist.

Finalist for 2009 Anthony and Macavity Awards

Chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of 2008

(Death of a Cozy Writer)

 

[red star] "Malliet's satirical take on the mystery scene is spot-on."

-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

[red star] "A real find for old-school mystery fans."

-Booklist (starred review)

"An absolutely delicious skewering of the world of mystery publishing and its none-too-savory denizens, Death and the Lit Chick is even wittier and more skillfully constructed than her Agatha Award-winning Death of a Cozy Writer."

-Denver Post

 

 

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