The Victoria Square merchants are enjoying a party at Katie Bonner’s mother-in-law’s home. It’s an elegant event at a beautiful house on the lake, but when Katie finds Maxwell Preston’s body floating in the water, she knows the party has come to an abrupt end in the ninth Victoria Square Mystery, A LETHAL LAKE EFFECT by Lorraine Bartlett.
Katie Bonner didn’t know Maxwell Preston very well. He was the town pharmacist for years, and he owned a dilapidated building on the square, which he wouldn’t sell or rent since his wife died. His daughter is estranged, and he doesn’t have many friends and possibly a few enemies. Who killed the man? As Katie investigates, she also has to attend to the Artisan Alley business and put up with Nona Fiske as she tries to organize a summer event. Nona has become power-hungry, and she’s angering all the other vendors. Furthermore, Katie has to deal with her ex-boyfriend, a cramped apartment, finding a new home, a potential new boyfriend’s diva daughters, and navigating her relationship with her mother-in-law. Can Katie keep the vendors of Artisans Alley happy and also find a cold-blooded killer?
A LETHAL LAKE EFFECT takes readers back to the village of McKinlay Mill in New York, where the entrepreneurial spirit runs deep and mysteries abound. Katie is a strong, independent young woman who is running several businesses and trying to make a life for herself while also helping her fellow craft vendors at Artisan Alley. The mystery starts quickly with a body in the lake and evolves into a multi-layered mystery with several motives and suspects. There is also a second motive for the crime and a secret that has been literally buried for years. The charm of this mystery series lies in Katie’s everyday interactions with her fellow vendors and her evolving personal life. Filled with interesting characters, crafty businesses, and a solid mystery, A LETHAL LAKE EFFECT is an entertaining and amusing mystery.
Things go awry for Katie Bonner when her former mother-in-law, Margo, throws a housewarming party at her lakeside rental and one of her guests ends up dead in the water. Maxwell Preston was a devoted husband--and a not-so-great dad. He was a beloved pharmacist who didn't take care of his ramshackle property, which is destined to be a hot commodity on Victoria Square when his heir puts it up for sale. But most of all, Preston was a stranger to the others who attended the party.
Meanwhile, Nona Fiske takes charge of Victoria Square big summer extravaganza—a disaster in the making as what little power she's seized has gone straight to her head. The Davenport sisters have their own agenda, and they've not only been poking around to find out more about the dead man, but what other mischief has been going on around the Square.
So, who killed Maxwell Preston and why? That's what Katie wants to know—and she's willing to risk everything to find out.
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