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

He pressed her hand back. “Cross your heart?”


“As God is my witness,” she said and flashed him a bright smile.


“Damn! Now I really amworried. You haven’t a religious bone in your body.” 16: The Best Laid Plans


Leslie went off to make the rounds in the neighborhood with Winnie. “The last remaining row of cottages on our list,” he’d told Caroline before shoving off. “If I have to face one more irate family and ask them who’s living with them—”


Chapter 20