“My guess is she saw it in Albert’s room. I’m certain she spent half her time turning over the contents of the house-remember her training-to learn what she could learn. Even if she couldn’t get past the title, the title told her all she needed to know-or all she needed to know to panic over it. Or perhaps she just chatted Jeffrey up about it; it wouldn’t be hard to get anything she wanted out of him. Watch out for that branch!”
Sergeant Fear turned the wheel sharply onto black ice, fighting to control the skid.
When his heart resumed normal operations, several minutes later, St. Just went on, “That old dear, Agnes, had it right all along. But without Mrs. Romano’s evidence-which we’ll get-we’d never have been able to prove much of anything, after all these years. Basing a case on a book of ‘fiction’ would be next to impossible. They didn’t believe Agnes then, they wouldn’t believe her now. But the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is sending someone to get her statement. Someone ‘yoong.’ We’ll see if it does any good this time.”
He sighed.
“Violet is one of those women capable of doing whatever is necessary, and getting away with it. She is, as Chloe said, about as cold-blooded as they come.”
“Like mother, like daughter, then?”
“Very much so, in appearance, and in temperament. We all missed that, but shouldn’t have. The callous manipulation, particularly of men, but of everyone-the kind of coldness I am certain is highly prized in the more secret corridors of Scotland Yard, by the way. Yes, I am certain Natasha learned all of that at her mother’s knee. What is more, I believe Violet manipulated her own daughter, telling her it was Sir Adrian who was the killer, giving Natasha a healthy grudge to nurse all those years.”
“And then, the money thrown in as a sweetener for revenge…”
“Violet inherited a fortune from Sir Winthrop, pretty much in line with the plan Natasha had for George. It took the pair of them decades to run through it all. And it wasn’t until Violet had exhausted most of it that Sir Adrian’s proposal-a form of blackmail, if you ask me-held any interest for her. As I say, cold-blooded, with money being the motivating force for both of them.”
Sergeant Fear laughed.
“We really should have paid more attention to Sarah, Sir. In a way, she was right: ‘The lack of money is the root of all evil.’”
Several mornings later St. Just was on his way to the train station to await the 8:02 for London and Heathrow. It was rare that he could get away for even a few hours; this time, he had wrangled four full days on the slopes. His cat, Deerstalker, was being spoiled by the neighbors. All was right with the world, and Sergeant Fear would have to cope with what wasn’t right until he returned.
It was as the cab neared Trumpington that he saw them, Sarah and Jeffrey, power-walking, hand-in-hand, which rather impeded their progress. They didn’t seem to mind. They looked blissfully silly, as only those newly, deeply in love can do.
He wondered if it would work, how they would get on together, Sarah with her grab bag of philosophies, and Jeffrey with his boundless, seemingly directionless, energy. He supposed what they really had in common was a sort of unfounded, blinkered optimism.
And perhaps, he thought, that was sufficient to be getting on with.
BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
1. Mystery novels have been written from a variety of viewpoints- first person, alternating point of view, and so on. What point of view is used in Death of a Cozy Writer? Why do you think the author chose to tell the story this way? What are the drawbacks to a writer in using a particular point of view-for example, first person-to tell a crime story?
2. Death of a Cozy Writer has been called an affectionate send-up of the traditional or “cozy” mystery genre. The author calls it an homage to the golden age of the classic British mystery. What key elements do you think constitute a traditional mystery? How is this book different from a traditional mystery? How does it play off the traditions of the genre?
3. Of the four grown children of Sir Adrian, Ruthven appears to be the favorite (insofar as Sir Adrian favors anyone). Do you think most parents have a secret preference for one child over another?
4. How much do you think Chloe, Lady Beauclerk-Fisk is responsible for the failings, or the successes, of her various offspring?
5. Death of a Cozy Writer has several unlikable characters. Was there any one you particularly “loved to hate,” and why? Which of the characters in Death of a Cozy Writer would you like to get to know better?
6. The novel has several red herrings. Were you misled by any of these? Were you able to guess “who done it,” or did the author surprise you? If you were surprised, who did you think was the murderer, and what was his or her motive?
7. How does the weather reflect the atmosphere inside Waverley Court?
8. How important is the Christmas holiday season to the story? How would the story have been different if set in a different season?
9. Death of a Cozy Writer belongs to the “fair-play” school of crime writing. Once you learned who the culprit was, did you feel the author had “played fair” in providing you the clues needed to solve the crime?
10. Discuss the author’s use of humor in the book. Is humor ever appropriate to a murder mystery?
11. Death of a Cozy Writer is also the story of a death in Violet’s past. How successful is the author in bridging the past with the present?
12. In what ways do you think Sarah’s future will be altered by the events of this book?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G. M. Malliet has worked as a journalist and copywriter for national and international news publications and public broadcasters. She attended Oxford University and holds a graduate degree from the University of Cambridge-the setting for the St. Just mysteries.
Death of a Cozy Writer, her first mystery, won the Malice Domestic Grant. She has also won the Romance Writers of America’s 2006 Stiletto Award (thriller category).
