It's spring 1942. Caroline Graham is six months pregnant, overweight, irritable, and most decidedly bored with her "delicate" condition. She hates being tied down and resents her husband Cyril and her cousin Edward for being off on assignment and having fun while she's confined to the village. She grows more restless each day, and her good friend and confidant Leslie Atwater does his best to boost her spirits but fails miserably. What Caroline needs is a problem to solve, "something juicy" to challenge her mind. And, of course, that's exactly what she gets.<br><br>Be careful what you wish for.<br><br>First there's a rash of poison pen letters circulating in the village. Librarian Elspeth Hunter receives a letter, and is the first to die, presumably by her own hand. Other deaths follow. Are the sudden deaths connected to the letters? As weeks pass and the bodies mount, Caroline and Leslie discover a pattern that suggests something more sinister is at work. With Leslie's help, Caroline must use all her cunning and put her life at risk to uncover a cold-blooded murderer -- a remorseless killer who continues to raise the stakes in a deadly game of malice.

A Deadly Game of Malice

“Poor Elspeth. Doesn’t have the brains God gave a goose. I’m surprised she even bothered with the doctor. Still, it is quite a bruise on her face. Though, I told her some powder here and there would work magic and no one would ever know, so I don’t see—”


Mrs. Armstrong couldn’t be bothered giving a moment’s thought to a spinster librarian who treated everyone who came through the door as equals. What was the world coming to? Poor Elspeth, my foot!Now my dear Gerald, there was a sweet, innocent soul, and to die so suddenly of heart failure. Life wasn’t fair sometimes. No, not fair at all.


“Of course she mentioned the letter to me in confidence.”


“What letter?” Holly Armstrong brightened up considerably. “You didn’t say anything about a letter before.”


Chapter 4