A Portrait of Death; The Versipellis Mystery Series Book One by Rhen Garland
In the quiet
English village of Marmis Parva, a weekend house party is organised
by a society hostess and all the top names are invited.
But this is no
ordinary party.
Two men are
savagely murdered during the course of the first evening and a young
man, presumed dead, returns home after two years imprisonment in
South Africa bringing with him proof of treason.
Detective Chief
Inspector Elliott Caine’s long-awaited holiday in the Lake District
is cancelled as he is brought in to investigate the peculiar nature
of the murders. More bodies are discovered and Elliott has to
manoeuvre between high society, Government protocols, and the heinous
nature of the crimes if he and his old friend Detective Sergeant
Abernathy Thorne, are to catch the sadistic killer, and the traitor
lurking amongst them.
When Caine’s
past comes back to haunt him, will his judgement be too clouded to
focus on solving the crime?
Will the Boer
spy’s identity be uncovered before they can flee?
How are these
murders connected to another in New York?
Rhen Garland lives in Somerset, England with her folk-singing,
book-illustrating husband, approximately 4000 books, an equal number
of ancient movies, and a large flock of stuffed sheep.
She enjoys the
countryside, peace, and Prosecco and the works of Ngaio Marsh, Glady
Mitchell, John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson, Agatha Christie, and
Terry Pratchett.
"I watch far
too many old school murder mystery films, TV series, and 1980s action
movies for it to be considered healthy."
"A Portrait
of Death" is a murder mystery thriller with paranormal touches
set in late Victorian England and is the first book in the
Versipellis Mysteries Series.