Death in the Garden

Book excerpt: Can Helena solve the mystery of a murder in the family that has festered for over two generations? In 1925 the beautiful, bohemian Diana Pollexfen was celebrating her thirtieth birthday with a party at a country estate, but the celebrations soured when her husband died, poisoned by a cocktail that had been liberally laced with some of Diana's photographic chemicals. Sixty years later, Diana's grand-niece, Helena, is also turning thirty, but with rather less fanfare. An overworked attorney in London, Helena's primary social outlet is an obsessive love affair. By way of distraction, Helena starts looking through her great-aunt's papers and soon develops another obsession: Determining just who killed George Pollexfen in that lovely, sunlit garden between the wars. Praise for Elizabeth Ironside ‘Excellent local colour and culture, good adventure and an admirable denouement’ Marcel Berlins ‘She joins those few mystery writers you unreservedly look forward to reading ... a thoroughly satisfying psychological thriller’ Harriet Waugh, Spectator ‘A fine, stylish book to be savoured’ James Melville ‘Superbly handled ... a masterly example of classic crime fiction’ Birmingham Post ‘A spell-binding story of love, murder and deception’ Coventry Evening Telegraph ‘Enticing murder mystery’ Manchester Evening News