Crossing the Lion - A Reigning Cats & Dogs Mystery

Zusatztext “A very entertaining series with a menagerie of colorful human and animal characters.” —Mystery Lovers Bookshop News                      “Five paws up for Cynthia Baxter’s Reigning Cats & Dogs series!” —Carolyn Hart! Agatha! Anthony! and Macavity award-winner Informationen zum Autor Cynthia Baxter is a native of Long Island, New York. She currently lives on the island’s North Shore, where she is at work on her next mystery. Klappentext CAN A SMALL-TOWN PET DETECTIVE HUNT DOWN A BEAST OF A KILLER IN ITS OWN LAIR? Veterinarian Jessica Popper is still basking in newlywedded bliss when neighbors Betty and Winston beg her to investigate the suspicious death of Linus Merrywood! king of the corporate jungle. On stormy Solitude Island! the Merrywoods have enjoyed the lion's share of wealth for generations. But from the suspects to the surroundings! Jess feels as if she's walked straight into an old-fashioned game of Clue-except here the stakes are life and death. There's the butler named Jives! a sexy assistant named Scarlett! teatime in the conservatory! and a house with secret passageways! moving walls! and a wailing aunt locked in the attic. With a storm raging around the island and Jess's least favorite police detective assigned to the case! things are looking dire until Jess's lionhearted husband! Nick! braves his way to Solitude to rescue her. Now it's the two of them against a family steeped in secrets-and a killer on the prowl who's ferociously determined to protect the biggest family secret of all. Chapter One “It is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life.” —Elizabeth Kenny How on earth did I get myself into this situation? I thought miserably, zipping my jacket up to my chin and wondering why I’d ever put so much faith in Polarfleece. On a dreary November evening like this one, I usually preferred snuggling up in front of a fireplace with my brand-new husband, Nick, and sipping hot chocolate, mulled cider, or some other beverage that was really good at adding warmth to the human body. It wouldn’t have hurt to have my pets around me, as well, since my two dogs and two cats happen to be pretty good at that aforementioned snuggling. Instead, I found myself in the middle of Peconic Bay, huddling inside the cold, damp cabin of a boat that, at the moment, was being thrown around as if the turbulent waters were gearing up for a replay of The Perfect Storm. Even though I didn’t remember having had a problem with seasickness before, the churning in my stomach told me that could be about to change. Icy rain pelted the windowpanes, through which I could see that darkness had settled around the dense gray fog surrounding the vessel. I was beginning to understand why all those sailors on the HMS Bounty had decided to mutiny. Right now, nothing sounded better than dry land. At least my traveling companions didn’t come close to the Captain Bligh category. In fact, for what it was worth, they looked almost as miserable as I felt. Beside me, Betty Vandervoort Farnsworth sat hunched over, with her arms folded and her legs crossed. The oversize parka that nearly devoured her slender frame was the same shade as overripe limes, as if it had been designed to scare away bears. Even less fashionable was the multicolored wool cap she’d yanked so far down that it nearly concealed her sapphire-blue eyes. Her hat also covered most of her hair, although a few strands of her usually neat white pageboy stuck out at wild angles. Her husband, Winston, looked as if he was on his way to a Halloween party dressed as the Gloucester fisherman. He wore a bright yellow slicker topped by one of those hats that looks as if it’s really good at redirecting rain toward the guy behind whoever’s wearing it. Being British, he was doing a much better job of keeping a stiff upper lip...

Product details

• Authors: Cynthia Baxter
• Publisher: Bantam Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 31.08.2010
• EAN: 9780553592382
• ISBN: 978-0-553-59238-2
• No. of pages: 368
• Dimensions: 106 mm x 175 mm x 25 mm
• Series: Reigning Cats and Dogs Mystery; Reigning Cats and Dogs Mystery; Reigning Cats & Dogs Mysteries
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense