the murders of richard iii by elizabeth peters

Peters has a lot of fun with the convention, spoofing “old-school” romance novels and their writers, and the clichés spouted by Hattie, in particular. I don’t want to reveal too much for fear of spoilers, but Jacqueline discovers that not all is as it seems, and nearly all Hattie’s writers are hiding some sort of secret. Also trying to lend a hand is James Whittier, head of English at Coldwater and Jacqueline’s sort-of boyfriend. Lieutenant O’Brien, who knew Dubretta, isn’t at first inclined to take Jacqueline seriously, but he’s a competent and thorough detective, and the two later work together, particularly after the popular writer, Valerie Valentine (Hattie’s most valuable property), claims that she was the intended target and is in fear of her life.

At the conference are authors, would-be authors, agents, fans, publishers, a tabloid journalist, Dubretta Duberstein, who seems to have a special reason for disliking Hattie, and several activists, including Betsy Markham, who is an old friend of Jacqueline’s.Īt the conference dinner, Dubretta, who had a bad heart, collapses and dies, and Jacqueline thinks there is something suspicious about her death. Jacqueline Kirby, assistant head librarian at Coldwater College, is fed up with life in Nebraska, and heads to New York for a bit of a change, to revisit old haunts, and to attend a convention of historical romance writers organised by the notorious Hattie Foster, top agent. 2011 Harper paperback cover (image from Amazon)

The murders of richard iii by elizabeth peters