Uneaseful Death

Antique dealer Doran Fairweather, who married rector Rodney Chelmarsh in Parson's Pleasure, now finds herself in the middle of two murders while snowed in at Caxton Manor. She is visiting the old country house-turned-hotel as one of the experts at an Antiques Roadshow held so the public can have their treasures appraised. Doran discovers the first murder victim, unidentified, in the parking lot. The second murder, the night of the storm, eliminates Falk Lydgate, an unpopular and unpleasant antiquities specialist. The only possible suspects are the few live-in staff and the experts, among them Henry Gore, with whom Doran was in love years before, and her current business partner, Howell Evans. Other plot thickeners are psychic Morven Cair and an ancient jewel that might be a fake. After the storm, the police arrive, none too pleased to find Doran involved in another case. She, in turn, is annoyed when she can't reach Rodney, with whom she quarreled before leaving home. But all ends well for the Chelmarshes, if a little too predictably, and the mystery is satisfactorily solved as well. Hardwick has written another charming, erudite book. (July)