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Belinda Lawrence's great-aunt Jane summons her to her ancient cottage in Milford, a tiny village near Bath. When Jane arrives, she stumbles over the decaying body of her relative. The police and coroner determine that Jane must have tripped down the stairs and died no later than the Saturday before Belinda arrived. But Jane's letter was postmarked Tuesday. Aunt Jane has left the house, a great deal of land, and a reasonably comforting sum of money to Belinda who had been born in England, but grew up in Australia. She's not sure what she is going to do. She returns to London and during the next few weeks, decides to move to Milford, at least to oversee repairs to the cottage and the large, very overgrown garden. The villagers tell Belinda that Jane had been reclusive toward the last few years of her life. Belinda is willing to believe this, since she had only met Jane once before. Her neighbors, Rosemary, who offers Belinda a job cleaning houses, and her younger brother, Jacob, a landscaper, attempt to make friends with the newcomer. Mark Sallinger, a handsome, unmarried real estate agent, wants to buy the property. Antique dealer, Hazel Whitby, wants to use the cottage as a showplace for antique furniture, and the lawyer, "young" Mr. Munro, an avid gardener, also appears to want to help Belinda settle in. After four weeks in London, she returns to the cottage to find it had been thoroughly searched. Not convinced that Aunt Jane had fallen without help, Belinda starts to figure out what has happened. This is a VERY quick book to read. It owes much to the classic English village mystery, with it's reclusive older resident and the suspicious cast of characters, including the somewhat dense village constable. It's fun and worth searching for. You can buy it directly from the publisher at www.jacobytebooks.com.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, June 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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