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

“See, that’s what I mean,” she said. “Our home and safe harbor, as you call it. A place where the four of us can just be: You and Edward. Cyril and I.”


“Yes, of course. The kids. How could we forget them in any discussion?”


She playfully cuffed him on the ear. “That’s what doesn’t make sense. Elspeth cherished her home. If she was so hell bent on suicide, why type the letter at work, go to the trouble to light a fire and pull the drapes? Why not just hang herself there in the library? It’s the most logical place. After all that’s where she typed the note. See what I mean?”


“No, not really, but I trust your intuition. It’s been right on the nose in the past.”


“Yes,” Caroline said, “that’s what I’m afraid of.” 6: Caretakers


Chapter 9