Murder on Mustique

Glenconner (Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown) makes her fiction debut with a straightforward mystery set on the private island of Mustique in the West Indies, a sanctuary for rock stars, royalty, celebrities, and captains of industry. Lady Blake (aka Vee) has returned to the island in 2002 in order to prepare for her goddaughter Lily Calder’s lavish 21st birthday party. Lily has been Vee’s ward since her mother’s suicide 16 years earlier. The day before Vee’s arrival, beautiful New York socialite Amanda Fortini, Lily’s childhood friend, disappears after a morning swim. Then other rich, young heirs and heiresses start turning up dead. Det. Sgt. Solomon Nile, “Mustique’s only fully trained police officer,” joins forces with Vee, whose connections among the affluent locals prove useful in trying to unmask the killer. Glenconner, who served as lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, brings authenticity to the proceedings. Readers will have fun seeing just how different the rich are from other people. [em]Agent: Gordon Wise, Curtis Brown Agency (U.K.). (May) [/em]