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

“Mr. Atwater is a village warden, same as me,” Winnie said, “and I might add very qualified to carry out his appointed duties. Tell him about your work in London during the Blitz, Les?”


Why did I ever mention it? Leslie turned away, about to leave, when Winnie grabbed his arm.


“You’re not going anywhere, Les.” She turned to Langdon. “We need the names of all the occupants of this home, and I’ll tell you why. Should a bomb fall in the village, and God forbid it should score a direct hit on this lovely home of yours, we’ll need names and the total number of inhabitants.” She looked him directly in the eye and added, “It will be a tremendous help in identifying the bodies.”


Langdon grabbed the form, wrote down the number 4, then his name, his wife’s, their son’s, and the cousin from London temporarily staying with them as their guest. Then he signed his name and handed the form and clipboard back to her. “Satisfied?”


Chapter 7