Bitter Herbs
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Passions run high in the world of publishing, but they rarely lead to murder – or do they?
Gloria Grainger, wealthy bestselling novelist, is found dead in her room one morning. Everyone assumes she died of natural causes – except for Willow King.
Despite Chief Inspector Tom Worth’s mockery of her suspicions Willow is determined to uncover the sinister truth. She finds herself investigating a particularly nasty murder case, in which there seems no limit to the amount of emotional damage people can inflict upon each other.
Then Willow herself becomes a target for the same murderous hatred that surrounded Gloria . . .
‘This sparkling whodunnit effectively blends mystery, sophistication, and a dash of romantic melodrama’ Publishers Weekly (Bloody Roses)
‘Well plotted – and immense fun to read’ The Times (Poison Flowers)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Willow King, drab London civil servant by day and glamorous romance writer by night, embarks on her fourth mystery when she agrees to work on a memoir of Gloria Granger, a recently deceased writer whose once popular bodice rippers had become ``outmoded.'' Willow's task is complicated by the difficulty of finding anyone willing to say something pleasant about the self-centered and foul-tempered author. While interviewing Gloria's staff (including a much put-upon niece, Marilyn Posselthwate), publishing house employees and even a disgruntled reviewer, Willow warms to the idea that Gloria was murdered--a claim dismissed by her own lover, policeman Tom Worth. Willow's sympathies shift between the deceased victim and the still-living victims the woman left behind, triggering some (not very deep) questions about her own relationships with Tom and her housekeeper. Cooper ( Bloody Roses ) has penned an effective puzzle, but her characters often seem mean-spirited, an element that detracts from the novel's overall impact.
