Clara Gamadge Mystery

Clara Gamadge used to be half of a detective team with her husband, Henry, but now that he has died, Clara has to fly solo. Her first case alone turns out to be more complex than she had thought. Fifty years ago, her cousin, Ellen, vanished, and her aunt May suddenly died after ignoring a letter advising her to give up the search for Ellen. Now Clara must sort through the muddled facts and try to make sense of two mysteries: a death and a disappearance. Or was it really two deaths?

Barry Lockwood is a lucky guy, or so it seems. He's found himself in a fresh relationship with Elizabeth Bauer, a lovely and charming journalism student, young enough to be his granddaughter and she's craving commitment. It seems so right but Anna Pittman smells something fishy. Twenty years after divorcing Barry, she still has a knack for ruining his good times. She suspects that this young lass is barking up the wrong tree. Then there is Dollfuss Moltke, Beth's shadowy, omnipresent companion, complete with a beautiful face and a secretive soul. Anna's old school chum Clara Gamadge thinks Anna is simply making a tempest in a teacup. But when Anna shows up dead, Clara's investigative prowess rushes to life. Everyone seems to think Anna's death an accident, but Clara wasn't born yesterday. What started as jealous suspicion unravels a perplexing path of matrimonial mischief, cloaked clues, and a ghastly seductive gold digger. Can Clara follow up the trail before nuptial vows produce another victim?

Clara Gamadge's latest adventure finds the white-haired sleuth in the hospital, at Christmas of all times, a victim of a bad hors d'oevre consumed at the opening of a friend's new mystery book shop, Pushing Murder, in Greenwich Village. A poisoning attempt at the hospital, however, convinces Clara and her family that the mishap at the party was no accident, but attempted murder! Who could possibly want to kill Clara, and why? She hasn't been involved in anycases for quite some time, so the murder attempts must mean she's been drawn into a new case without her knowledge. She suspects that someone will need her services in the near future. Sure enough, an old friend suddenly appears on the scene seeking Clara's help, and a web of ancient deceptions and green ensnares both women, involving them in a deadly game of extortion and murder. As Clara's family, including her charming yet irascible cousin Sadd, rallies to protect both women, Clara directs the investigation from her hospital bed. To her sorrow, however, she finds that the spirit of Christmas is proof against only the chill and is not strong enough to protect them all from the malice of one ambitions man.

It's been a long time since Clara Gamadge's school days, but forever young at heart she still has close ties to the old gang and her alma mater, Wolcott Academy. Springtime on campus is usually a time of winding down and wrapping up until suddenly murder and suspense are the only subjects on anyone's mind. Usually when Clara receives a note from Louise Littleton, Wolcott's youthful and sprightly headmistress, it's just to keep in touch, but this time it concerns mysterious circumstances. Margo Llewelyn, formerly an Academy charity student, now a movie star of former and fading glory, has arrived at Wolcott's doorsteps in desperate straits. In a panic, she begs Louise to accept her three little girls as boarding students so she can immediately get out of the country. Louise has encountered parents anxious to part with their children before but this seemed especially odd. When a dead body breaks up commencement ceremonies it's time for Clara Gamadge to put the pieces together. What misfortune had caused Margo's shining star to sink so low? Would more blood tarnish Wolcott's ivy-covered walls? Only a super sleuth like Clara could sift through the avarice, the malice and the motives to solve a murder like this and save the good name of her beloved Wolcott Academy too.