[Penny Wanawake 01] • Penny Black

Penny Wanawake, the first black female sleuth works in a James Bond-like fashion with her dashing male counterpart to capture murders and solve crime.

If you like your sleuths elegant, exotic, and exuberaant, meet Britain's Penny Wanawake... Penny Wanawake, the daughter of an African diplomat father and an aristocratic English mother, is dismayed to arrive in California from London and discover her vacation mate is missing. Penny's even more horrified when Martha's body is found at LAX clothed with a white orchid and multiple stab wounds. Who would have killed kind Martha? A jealous model beaten out of photoshoot? Martha's racist father, the Senator, up for re-election and anxious to avoid scandal? Or two botantists battling over winning the black orchid breeding contest? Penny returns to DC where she pursues the blackhearted killer....

Susan Moody was born in Oxford, England. She began her writing career with two historical novels, but turned to crime in 1984 creating an unusual sleuth in Penny Wanawake. After following Penny Black with six more Penny mysteries, in 1993 [she published] the first Cassie Swann novel, Takeout Double. In 1995, she wrote Misselthwait, a sequel to the much-loved children's book The Secret Garden.

A former Chairman of the Crime Writers Association and a member of the prestigious Detection Club, the versatile author is also an experienced instructor of writers workshops. She now resides once more in Oxford.