Amory Ames is a wealthy young woman who regrets her marriage
to her notoriously charming playboy husband, Milo. Looking
for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former
fiancé, Gil Trent, not knowing that she'll soon become
embroiled in a murder investigation that will test not only
her friendship with Gil, but will upset the status quo with
her husband.
Amory accompanies Gil to the Brightwell
Hotel in an attempt to circumvent the marriage of his
sister, Emmeline, to Rupert Howe, a disreputable ladies'
man. Amory sees in the situation a grim reflection of her
own floundering marriage. There is more than her happiness
at stake, however, when Rupert is murdered and Gil is
arrested for the crime. Amory is determined to prove his
innocence and find the real killer, despite attempted
dissuasion from the disapproving police inspector on the
case. Matters are further complicated by Milo's unexpected
arrival, and the two form an uneasy alliance as Amory
enlists his reluctant aid in clearing Gil's name. As the
stakes grow higher and the line between friend and foe
becomes less clear, Amory must decide where her heart lies
and catch the killer before she, too, becomes a victim.
Ashley Weaver's Murder at the Brightwell is a
delicious mystery in which murder invades polite society and
romance springs in unexpected places.