The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp
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4.2 • 34 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A quirky group of seniors attempts to solve one murder while covering up another—with the help of an enterprising tortoise—in this twisty, darkly funny mystery from the author of Three Bags Full.
It has been an eventful morning for Agnes Sharp and the other inhabitants of Sunset Hall, a house share for the old and unruly in the sleepy English countryside. Although they have had some issues (misplaced reading glasses, conflicting culinary tastes, decreasing mobility, and gluttonous grandsons), nothing prepares them for an unexpected visit from a police officer with some shocking news. A body has been discovered next door. Everyone puts on a long face for show, but they are secretly relieved the body in question is not the one they’re currently hiding in the shed (sorry, Lillith).
It seems the answer to their little problem with Lillith may have fallen right into their laps. All they have to do is find out who murdered their neighbor, so they can pin Lillith’s death on them, thus killing two (old) birds with one stone (cold killer).
With their plan sorted, Agnes and her geriatric gang spring into action. After all, everybody likes a good mystery. Besides, the more suspicion they can cast about, surely the less will land on them. To investigate, they will step out of their comfort zone and tangle with sinister bakers, broken stairlifts, inept criminals, the local authorities, and their own dark secrets.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This amusing ensemble cozy from Swann (Three Bags Full) features rambunctious retirees living out their twilight years at Sunset Hall, Agnes Sharp's family home in the English village of Duck End. Sneeringly referred to by locals as a "load of senile hippies," the residents of Sunset Hall are alarmed when the police knock on their door one afternoon. A neighbor has been shot dead on her terrace, and authorities think it might be the work of a burglar who targets elderly people. The group's initial concern gives way to relief when the police fail to uncover another corpse they've been storing in their garden shed since they discovered it a few days ago and didn't know what to do. As the group band together to solve both murders, personal secrets threaten to divide them, and each one fears they could be the next to die. Swann wittily conveys the infirmities of old age—memory lapses, vision impairment, hearing problems—alongside her characters' flashes of insight and pluck. Though the pacing sometimes drags, cozy readers will gladly return to Sunset Hall for future installments.
