Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

Grace’s artist in residence and lived nearby on the property. She was given a monthly stipend, and her home was a cozy cottage surrounded by trees and woodland. Fascinating. I was about to ask her what type of art she practiced when Peter Brinker posed an unrelated question about her living conditions, and Ruth, a lively woman with long, graying hair and an infectious smile, went off on the wonderfulness of the heating and air-conditioning unit in the cottage.
    Fourth, Harrison Crawford was truly a sweet, jovial man, but Madge continued to play the role of consummate shrew. Her attitude did not improve as the mealprogressed, but Harrison let her foul humor roll off his back. Poor Kiki, though, having Madge for a mother. I learned that Kiki had an older brother and sister, Kieran and Celeste, but neither of them were able to make it to Grace’s party. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d passed on the party because they couldn’t take being cooped up in the same house as their mother for a week.
    Kiki seemed to have inherited her father’s geniality, luckily for all of us.
    Fifth, Peter Brinker and his wife, Sybil, barely spoke to each other—unless Peter tried to converse with anyone else. Then Sybil would find any excuse to disrupt the conversation in order to tell Peter something that had just that moment occurred to her, apparently. She had interrupted me twice already, and while I understood it was probably because of her own lack of self-confidence, I was starting to dislike the woman almost as much as I disliked Madge. Sybil was so insipid that if it hadn’t been for the fact that she was a high-powered CFO for a multinational corporation, I would’ve thought she was a rich, bored housewife whose only creative outlets were shopping and manicures.
    But that wasn’t nice of me. I hadn’t gotten a chance to get to know Sybil yet, but I was willing to believe she would turn out to be very nice. Unlike Madge.
    Wanting to stay with my new positive groove, I fought back my negative feelings toward Madge. How could I expect to be a font of optimism and hope if I abhorred someone? Hoping to readjust my downbeat attitude toward Madge—and Sybil, too, for that matter—I consumed liberal amounts of the smooth, full-bodied cabernet Grace was serving.
    It worked. Halfway through the pasta course, I realized I loved everyone. Oh, boy. It was time to switch to water.
    The main course consisted of a slab of rich polenta topped with ricotta cheese and drenched in a luscious, light, broth-based chunky tomato sauce with plump sausagesand chicken that were both so moist and light they almost melted in my mouth.
    The meal was essentially peasant fare, but in the hands of a talented chef, it had become haute cuisine. I wanted to lick my plate but figured that would be tacky.
    “Was I right?” Nathan asked as he polished off his own meal.
    “Incredible,” I mumbled as I gulped down another bite of tender, fennel-infused sausage with a dollop of polenta smothered in red sauce. “I need this recipe.” Tomorrow I would talk to Chef Tang and beg if I had to. This dish would be a perfect addition to my fledgling repertoire of things I could cook.
    Dessert was a deep, rich chocolate soufflé with a generous side of whipped cream. There were no words to describe it, except
Oh, mercy
.
    “Attention! Attention!” Grace cried gaily as she tapped her fork against her crystal wineglass.
    I caught Suzie’s eye and she winked at me. I’d had enough wine that I winked back, and that’s when I noticed that Stephen Fowler was glaring in my direction. I shivered as I looked away, then wondered if perhaps his eyes had been shooting daggers beyond me, toward Grace instead.
    We all looked at her attentively. She appeared flushed and happy, no doubt from all the great food and wine, but also because she was surrounded by the people she loved. Well, except for Stephen Fowler and Madge. And Sybil, too, I supposed. I couldn’t imagine Grace loving any one of those three.
    I mentally smacked myself.
Be nice!
    “I’m so pleased to have you all here to celebrate my birthday. The Big Five-Oh! Heavens! I never thought I’d live this long.”
    I almost laughed. Grace was close to my mother’s age but looked even younger, with her diminutive figure and cute hair, not to mention her youthful attitude. She waved her hands in the air theatrically. “Never mind. Irefuse to get maudlin about my age, because I’ve never felt better.”
    We