Tales of the Witch

A collection of stories featuring the strangest sleuth in Wyndham-by-the-Sea
With her black clothes, black hair, and faithful black cat, Mrs. Risk incites rumors among the townsfolk of Wyndham-by-the-Sea, who whisper that she’s a witch. She keeps to herself, plants strange things in her garden, and has an unerring ability to see into other people’s minds. With her trusty assistant Rachel, Mrs. Risk keeps tabs on every corner of her small seaside town, sipping wine, hearing secrets, and occasionally breaking curses. Whether her powers are supernatural or merely deductive, no one can deny that they are real. In the seven stories of this volume, Mrs. Risk confronts murderous fishmongers, cursed restaurateurs, and a rock star marked for death. Mystery is rife in Wyndham-by-the-Sea, and only a witch has the power to see the truth.
“Angela Zeman knows how to keep a reader hooked.” —Stuart M. Kaminsky “An engaging twist on the Watson and Holmes–style sleuthing duo.” —Publishers Weekly “A great new murder mystery novelist.” —Book Review Café
Angela Zeman is an author of mystery stories. Her best-known character is Mrs. Risk, a suspected witch whom she introduced in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Along with her faithful companion Rachel, Mrs. Risk solves local intrigues and supernatural mysteries. In 2001, Zeman published The Witch and the Borscht Pearl, a Mrs. Risk novel, and received strong reviews for its quick wit and clockwork plotting.  Zeman has published stories in many anthologies, including Linda Fairstein’s The Prosecution Rests (2009) and Nelson DeMille’s The Rich and the Dead (2011). She has published nonfiction, some of it co-written with her husband, and is one of the founders of the New York chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. In 2012 she debuted two new series characters in anthologies edited by Robert J. Randisi and Douglas Preston. She lives and writes in New York City, and is a longstanding member of the New York Friar’s Club.