Lynette hesitated at the door to the library, Alicia just behind her. They had already agreed that Lynette would do the talking. She needed that, she’d told Alicia. She needed to prove she had the mettle—as much to herself as to her sister. But most of all she needed to do it because she was the one who had been led up the garden path and fed the most lies.
“Just stay detached and don’t get too emotional,” Alicia told her. That was another trick she had learned at journalism school, but it was also a lesson they might have taken from Miss Marple and Inspector Poirot.
They gave each other a comforting nod, then strode into the room to the leather couch where someone was bent over, poring through a thin white book with the words Lyle Family Dynasty across the front, a knitting bag beside her.
“Hello, Flo,” said Lynette. “Mind if we join you?”
The elderly lady looked up at them, surprised. “Oh! Hello girls!”
Then, reading their expressions, which were now hard and a little nervous, she smiled and said, “Ah, so you’ve come for the grand denouement!”
“Something like that,” said Lynette. But she wasn’t smiling. She pointed at the book in Flo’s hands. “Perry found that in the fiction section. Seems appropriate considering all the lies that have been swirling around this place.”
The older woman’s smile deflated. “Yes, well, they started it. It’s disgraceful, really, how little they mention Donal. Quite shocking. My brother gave his life for this place, and he barely rates a sentence. Tea, ladies?”
Now they both looked surprised, and she chuckled. “The kettle’s just boiled, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night. You might as well get comfortable. Get yourselves a pot. There’s a lovely chamomile over there, Alicia. Might help with your insomnia.”
“I’m fine,” Alicia replied, swapping a frown with Lynette.
“Rightio then.” Flo reached for her cup. “Now, you’ve come to ask why I did it. What could the old biddy possibly be thinking?” She swept her eyes to them and they both stared back, trying not to flinch. She shrugged. “I was thinking of my brother, of course. It’s always been about Donnie.”
Then she took a sip from her teacup and exhaled like the conversation was over.
The sisters glanced at each other again, then sat down, side by side, on the lounge across from Flo. Lynette took a deep breath and said, “You never got over your brother’s death, did you Flo?”
“His murder!” Flo corrected, a spindly finger high. “And no, I did not get over it, as you so eloquently put it—like it’s some speed bump I can just drive across. But I did move on, dear. I did try to do that. It was a struggle, of course. He was my baby brother. The heart of our family. The only son—”
Her voice choked on the final word, and she frowned as she cleared her throat, annoyed by her own emotion. “I didn’t think I would survive at first. But you know what kept me going? The only thing that kept me going?” She dropped her eyes to the book. “The thought that Donnie had died trying to save others. That he’d gone out in a blaze of glory. That he would forever be remembered as a hero. Yet here they are, dousing his memory, like he never even existed.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked up. “Why would they do that, do you think?”
“Because he was having an affair with Snowy’s wife?” Lynette offered as the woman’s eyes hardened.
“But that’s all it was, just an affair! A bit of silly nonsense! You think he deserved to die for that?”
“Not at all,” Lynette said, placing a conciliatory palm up. “But I don’t think Vale and Mrs Flannery deserved to die either.”
“Ah, well, that’s where we disagree.” Flo drew her lips downward and crossed her arms. “I never intended any of it, you know. Not at first anyway.”
The two sisters shared a sceptical look, and she caught it, shaking her head.
“It’s true. I simply planted the idea of coming here, and you’re the ones who ran with it.”
Like it was all their fault.
Lynette bristled at the comment and was about to argue the point, but Alicia took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She had witnessed several confessions now and knew there was only one way to get to the truth. They had to stay calm and let the suspect keep talking. She also had a question of her own, one that Ronnie hadn’t properly answered.
Alicia said, “You slipped the link to Lyle’s Lodge at the bottom of Ronnie’s email to us, didn’t you Flo? Ronnie said she hadn’t done it, then pretended she must have forgotten. But she was covering for you, wasn’t she? How long has she been protecting you?”
Flo blew some air through her lips like it didn’t matter. “Ronnie thinks she’s the only switched-on oldie, like the rest of us are a bit dim. So I played along. I liked the distance it gave me. I let her agree to the weekend, then said I wanted to check her email before she sent it—it was on my behalf, so she agreed. Then, when she wasn’t looking, I added the link and pressed Send before she noticed. You lot did the rest. It was really quite a dream! The way you booked it all in. Really, quite amazing.”
“What if we hadn’t? What if we’d suggested somewhere else?”
“Then none of this would have happened, dear.”
Again, Flo appeared to be blaming them, and now Alicia felt herself bristle, and the older woman smiled.
“Oh don’t get your knickers in a knot, girls. That’s how life turns, you see—on a dime. One stroke of good luck is another person’s misfortune. Nothing anyone can do about that.”
“Your brother learnt that the hard way,” Lynette said, calmer now, and Flo nodded. “So you used us to come up here and wreak revenge?”
“Oh I never meant to kill anybody. That wasn’t my plan at all! I just wanted one last adventure, and Claire’s letter suggested you were thinking of going somewhere isolated. I immediately thought of the Hunting Lodge.”
Her eyes danced around the room then. “Donal used to love this place. We all thought he came up to show off his shooting skills—he was quite the drawcard. Got a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games, did you know that? No, of course you didn’t know that.”
She flashed a scowl at the book again. “His whole story has been expunged. Like he never existed. But yes, they invited him here regularly to lead the hunts, show the city folk a thing or two. Turns out he also came for some tart.”
She spat that last word out like it was poison, then drew her lips back into a smile. “I’ve always wanted to visit here, see what all the fuss was about, but I never had the courage, probably never would have if it was just me. But to come with a book club, well, that seemed like a beaut idea. I wanted one last chance to say goodbye, that’s all it was.”
Lynette was growing increasingly impatient with the woman’s nonchalant attitude. “I’m sorry, Flo,” she said, “but I don’t believe you. You brought poison and a syringe with you. You knew exactly what you were doing. You were out for blood from the start.”
“Oh, that wasn’t for them! That was for me.”
“You?”
“I wasn’t lying to you about that, Lynette. I am on my way out, and I really didn’t want to spend it knocked out on morphine in some drab hospital. No, thank you.”
“You’re not moving into aged care, are you?”
“Aged care? Over my dead body! In fact, that was my plan. I had no intention of leaving Lyle’s. I wanted to join my brother, that’s all it was at first.” She reached for her cup of tea and held it to her lips as she stared out the dark window, seeing only her sad reflection. “I always felt so bad that Donnie’s spirit was stuck up here, all alone, out there.”
She sipped and placed the cup back. Folded her arms again.
“They found his body down from the track we walked the first day, did you know that? Did you find that amongst Blake’s notes? It took them a week to find him. A whole week! And he was so close all along. We tell people Donal died when a tree branch broke his back, a widow maker, and that’s true. He was killed by a falling branch. But it didn’t happen in Gulargambone. It happened up here. A burning branch fell on him while he was fighting the fire. Their fire, the one he should not have been fighting!”
She sat forward and plucked a tissue from the box Missy had placed there earlier. Gave her nose an irritated blow. “They shipped Donal’s body back to us, the Lyles, with barely a note of apology, and we buried him on the property, but that’s not him down there, not really. I’ve seen enough carcasses in my time to know that. It’s just empty bones.”
She waved the tissue towards the dark forest outside. “This is where Donnie took his final breath, this is where his spirit lives, and I wanted to take my final breath here too. Reunite our spirits. Keep him company after all this time. That’s why I went for that walk with you the first day, girls. I was scouting for a lovely spot to die.”
The words were quite shocking, and Alicia shivered deeply, remembering how worried she had been about snakes and the rock fall and of Flo getting hurt. Perhaps if she had not rescued the woman, none of this would have happened.
Lynette said, “So what made you change your mind?”
“Insomnia my dear, and good old-fashioned luck.” She smiled, but it was ugly now. “It was just as I told you all. I was wide awake that first night. While you were in the bar, flirting with that silly Blake fellow, I was on my balcony, thinking of Donnie, like I often do. That’s when I noticed Vale trotting off with his silly bag, up the forbidden track. That made me curious. I had no idea Snowy was up there! Like everyone, I assumed he’d cleared off years ago. It wasn’t until Vale returned that I found out the truth. Or, rather, Blake did.”
Her eyebrows lifted, gleefully. “You went to bed, Lynette, but Blake was still loitering in the lobby, snooping about on the computer. I didn’t know what he was up to, so I loitered too. But I’m better at it, dear. He never even knew I was there. Like a shadow in the wind…”
She grinned. So proud of herself. “I heard Vale come back, and the two men began talking. Arguing, really. Blake was hammering Vale with questions about the fire, and I realised he must be a journalist, but Vale already knew because that’s when he let the cat out of the bag, the foolish chap.” She cackled softly. “Vale said he’d just warned Snowy that the press was loitering and to keep his mouth shut. I’d seen him go up Repentance Way and so had Blake, so we both put two and two together. Snowy must be up there!”
She cackled again, like it was all a lark. “Oh you should have seen the look on Vale’s face! He’d effectively handed Snowy over to that snake. Because he was a snake, Lynette. A slippery, slimy snake.”
Lynette took a deep breath this time. She wasn’t going to take the bait. They still had so many questions to get through. “What happened next?”
“Vale told Blake to clear out, but Blake wasn’t having it. He said he had a witness who was willing to testify to the fact that, back in 1970, the eminent Mr Jack Lyle had marched my brother off to his death.”
She stared at Lynette, almost daring her to dispute it, but Lynette just waved her on.
“While everyone else was urged to stay safely in the lodge, Jack led my baby brother out to the burning forest and told him to get on with it. It was as good as a death sentence. Indeed that’s exactly what it turned out to be.”
Her eyes were wet with tears now, and she swiped them angrily, like she’d had enough crying for one lifetime. “Truth is, girls, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. The rumours at the time were rife. But I never let my mind go there, not really. I hung on to the fact that the Lyles were better than that, and my brother had died a hero.”
Her eyes turned to the thin volume again. “It also helped knowing that the Lyles had struggled afterwards too. I heard that Lydia had left Jack and he’d handed the lodge to his brother or something like that… But to discover that he was still here, enjoying this mountain, occupying my brother’s sacred space? Well, that was very disappointing!”
She slapped a shrewd look at Lynette then. “He might have been a snake, your lad, but he was also smart, I’ll give him that. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have twigged. I would have died quietly here and joined my brother while Snowy continued to live on, enjoying this lovely place, free of any penance.”
“He had to pay,” said Lynette, and she nodded. “And the others?”
“They were just as guilty my dear. Feeding him and covering for him. Enabling a murderer. They deserved a death sentence too.”
Two people were killed because they fed a man some food? Lynette didn’t have a response for that. The woman was a monster. A cold, heartless monster. Sensing her growing distress, Alicia gave her sister’s hand another squeeze, and Lynette looked back at her and nodded, so she took up the interrogation.
“You poisoned Vale first,” Alicia said. “How did you do it, Flo?”
“Oh, it’s your turn now is it, dear?” Flo said to Alicia, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
She was enjoying the interrogation, that much was obvious. But the constant, irritating appearance of tears told them it wasn’t all fun and games. No matter how much Flo cackled and teased, how much she had enjoyed enacting her revenge, the subject matter was still red raw and her beloved brother was still six feet under.
“How did you do it?” Alicia asked again.
“Quite simple, really. I waited until Vale was asleep. He’s a man, he’s old, he’d just done that walk. I knew he’d sleep like a log. No guilty conscience on that one. I’d already seen him return upstairs. I just hoped he didn’t lock his door, and I got lucky there. Another dime falling in my favour. I waited another hour, and then I slipped in.”
She smiled serenely. “Vale’s arm was so perfect, like he was inviting me to do it.” She indicated with her own arm, holding it out with the veins in her elbow showing. “I had pre-prepared the syringe, so I gave him the shot and returned to bed.”
“It was snake venom?”
“Ronnie’s right about that. It’s the venom from an inland taipan. One of the most venomous snakes in the world. Very potent. You have to remember, it was originally meant for me. I didn’t want to drag my own death out. His wasn’t dragged out either, more’s the pity. It would have been over in less than an hour.”
“He was violently sick, Flo. It would have been a horrendous hour,” Alicia said, trying to keep her own emotions in check and wondering now why Mrs Flannery didn’t hear his moans. The hard timber walls—all that lovely green gold—must have muffled the sound. Later they would learn she had taken two sleeping pills that night, and he never stood a chance.
“His pain was trifling compared to the horrendous death of my brother,” Flo was saying, “all alone out there in the burning forest, don’t you think?” Her eyes were rheumy and bloodshot. “They told us he died instantly, but how do we know that?”
She stopped, gasped, her voice catching. “How do we know he didn’t endure horrific… excruciating… agony before he… before he…”
Flo reached a hand to her eyes to swipe at them again, and the two sisters felt their first stab of sympathy, but Alicia, for one, refused to give in to it. She needed to stay on track.
“What about Mrs Flannery, then?”
Flo coughed, clearing the lump in her throat. “Oh her room was locked, that was a damn nuisance! As I say, the dime doesn’t always fall where it should. But I heard what she said to Blake over dinner, how disgusting she had been about my brother; like he was little more than a bad news story. A smirch on the great Lyle dynasty. I couldn’t let that drop.”
“Oh, Flo,” Lynette said, heart plummeting again, no longer able to hold it back. “It was just a throwaway line!”
“It was my brother they threw away!” she spat back, the tears now streaming freely down her crepey cheeks. “Sending him to his death and then acting like he was nothing!”
“But she wasn’t even here back then, she—”
“She cooked that bastard hearty meals every day for decades. That’s more than my Donnie ever got! She probably did his washing, darned his socks! She cared for him, and she deserved everything she got!”
“Okay, okay,” said Alicia, trying to get the emotion back in check. “So Mrs Flannery went down to the cellar after breakfast, yes? Went to see if there was any cooking wine, is that right?”
Alicia remembered the shopping list on the kitchen bench, the empty wine bottle beside it. Mrs Flannery was probably checking supplies before heading back to Lyleton.
Flo shrugged like it didn’t matter. “I have no idea why she was down there, but I wasn’t going to miss my chance. I’m not even sure she saw it coming. I got to the bottom of the stairs, picked up the nearest bottle, and I bopped her over the head with it.” She smiled weakly. “Ronnie’s right about that too. It’s not so hard if you get the swing right.”
Alicia and Lynette felt sick to their stomachs, especially for the dear old cook. Snowy might have been culpable, maybe even Vale, but they were certain Mrs Flannery deserved none of it, but now was not the time to press the point.
Lynette cleared her throat and took over again. “So you drove Mrs Flannery’s van away to make it look like she’d left the premises. That was quite a risk, Flo. Perry could have spotted you if he’d looked a little closer.”
“Ah, but I knew he wouldn’t, see? I had that in my favour.” She cackled, making Lynette frown. “Oh, you’re still young and pretty, dear, but you’ll learn soon enough.” She glanced at Alicia. “Perhaps you’re already learning, love. Women of a certain age are entirely invisible to most people, certainly to men. Even men with silly earrings like Perry.”
She spat out his name like she thought he was vermin. “I found the car keys in the woman’s handbag, up on her bed. I grabbed her hat, just in case I needed it. If anyone did see me, all they would have registered was an old biddy behind the wheel with a floppy hat on.”
She took another sip of her tea, and now Alicia wished she had stopped to get one. She felt drained by all of this. She couldn’t imagine how exhausting it was for the sickly woman sitting in front of her. Perhaps Flo was still buzzing from the adrenaline that came with revenge?
Flo said, “So, yes, I snuck off before book club. Drove the van down to the main road and looked for a place to dump it. That’s when I spotted the old fire trail, leading in two directions, downwards and back up towards the western side of the lodge. I had to ram through an old gate to access it of course. Left a mighty great dent in the bumper bar I’m afraid, but they can always charge my room for it.”
She winked and Lynette frowned back. The woman was making jokes? Really?
“That must be the paper road Snowy told me about,” Alicia said.
Flo shrugged. “It was very overgrown, but I managed to get through and back up, parked under some bushes and found myself just behind the kitchen. That really was a spot of good luck!”
Lynette sat forward. “So that’s how you discovered the herb garden.”
“Yes! And a lovely garden it is. I had a little dig about, then I joined you all as book club started. It all worked out very neatly. Agatha Christie would be most impressed.”
She cackled again, but Alicia was still confused.
“Why start the fire? What was that about?”
“I didn’t, dear. At least not the first fire, the one that took the phone lines out. That was jolly good luck too! I noticed it when I took off in the van the first time. It was all the way down the ridge, just outside Lyleton, but it was small and I didn’t think too much of it to be honest. I figured someone was back-burning.”
“Again, Flo, I’m struggling to believe all these ‘happy’ coincidences,” said Alicia.
“Believe what you like. It’s all true. No reason to lie now. I did not start the original fire, but it did give me a top idea. You see, after you all found Vale’s body, and Blake announced he was driving into town, well, I knew I had to act. I hadn’t got to Snowy yet! If Vale and Mrs Flannery had to pay, so did that man. No two ways about it!”
“Oh, so you set the second fire, down at Cooper’s Creek?” said Lynette. “To buy yourself more time. You retrieved the lodge van and followed Blake down after he left.”
“Got it in one, dear. See, I said you were smart! You have to trust yourself more, Lynny. And Blake should have kept his mouth shut. I wouldn’t have followed him if he hadn’t been so smug. He said he would be back with the cavalry, and I knew exactly what he meant by that. He looked straight at me when he said it. I think he’d already worked out who I was and he was bringing the police back.”
Lynette nodded. “He had your family history amongst his stuff, and I think he used the reception computer to look you up on Ancestry.com that night.”
“Did he now? Well, isn’t he a clever clogs! In any case, I wasn’t ready to hand myself over just yet. I needed more time, you see, a chance to walk up Repentance Way, confront that murdering bastard. But you!” She glowered at Alicia. “You couldn’t keep off that dreaded path. I wondered why you didn’t set up camp there, you were there so much!”
Alicia balked at that, almost apologising, but she couldn’t get past the fact that the van was at the lodge all along. “Where is it now? The van?” she asked.
“Back in the bushes, behind the kitchen, where I left it. I can’t believe none of you have found it yet. Really you’re not as capable as you think you are.”
Lynette gave her an eye roll for that comment, but Alicia couldn’t help but feel impressed. The woman really was extraordinary. She was right; they had all underestimated her at their own peril. They had all looked straight through her, as if she were invisible—incapable of doing anything more than knitting beanies and reminiscing about the past.
Even when Lynette and Missy suggested Flo could be a possible suspect, none of them had taken it at all seriously, none of them thought she was up to it. In their own way, they had all been a little ageist.
“So,” continued Flo, “after you found Vale, while the rest of you were scurrying about out the front, I snuck out through the kitchen, returned to the van and followed Blake down the mountain. He was well ahead of me of course, well past Cooper’s Crossing when I got to it, so I stopped there and started another fire.” She winked. “I trained as a firie back in Gulargambone, I did tell you all that, yes? I can get a rip-roaring fire going with nothing but a bit of bark and some dry twigs.”
Lynette was gasping now. “Blake is missing, Flo! He’s probably been burned alive down there in your rip-roaring fire!”
Flo offered her first look of contrition, a shaky hand reaching for her throat. “The winds must have picked up, dear, and the two fires must have converged. I never intended to hurt Blake, you must believe me. He was a cocky little thing, but he had the story, see? The true story of what happened to my brother, of what the Lyles had covered up. He said as much when he left, remember? That he was going to get in touch with his boss. I knew what he was saying, and I wanted the story to get out! I was just trying to cut us off from the world for a bit longer. I did not know the fire would get so out of control. And I certainly never expected the fire to catch up with Blake.”
Lynette bristled again but sat back and gave her sister a look. One more cocky word and she was going to reach across the couch and throttle the woman herself.
Alicia nodded, knowingly, and sat forward again. “Tell us about Snowy then. How did you manage to inject him when, as you say, I was practically camped out on that track today?”
“I didn’t dear. You heard Ronnie; that was suicide.”
Lynette scoffed loudly and Alicia shook her head, but Flo looked deadly serious.
“Truly. I trekked out to him last night after you had all gone to bed. I handed him the gear and he did the rest. And don’t you dare feel sorry for him, because I can see it in your eyes! I gave him a choice in the end, a privilege he never offered my brother.”
In fact, Snowy had given Donal a choice. Donal, like Snowy, had taken his penance. But she wasn’t to know that. The surviving witness would attest to that later.
“So you just waltzed on in and told Snowy to kill himself. Simple as that.”
“Wasn’t that simple, Alicia. That walk nearly did me in! It was very treacherous at night. I almost slipped at one point.” She cackled. “That would not do! I still had one more job to tick off. And it’s not like he wasn’t expecting me. In fact, Snowy wondered what took me so long.”
The sisters were both scoffing now, so she said, voice croaky, “Really, ladies, it’s true. Vale had already told him that there was a journalist here, poking about, so he knew the wound was reopening. I guess you told him about Vale’s death and Mrs Flannery, and he put it all together. He knew that only one person could wish them both dead. Or five people really—the surviving Murphy sisters.”
Flo’s face clouded over again. “My sisters never really cared, to be honest. Not like me. I mean, they loved Donnie. I’m not saying they didn’t. But they saw his death as… almost a relief. They wanted to leave the farm, at least the younger ones did. But not me! I knew the true value of that property. It had been in our family for generations. That was our birthright!”
She sniffed and swiped another tissue. Then cleared her throat again. “But Donal’s death killed it for all of us. I could not work it without my brother, not in those days anyway. Today, well, you wouldn’t bat an eyelid at a group of sisters running a farm. I told all of this to Snowy, and he got it. He understood. He killed more that day than just my brother. He killed my dreams and hopes and future.”
She paused to blow her nose, then said, “Would someone fetch me a glass of water, please? This is all very draining.”
Alicia glanced at Lynette, who looked almost as drained as Flo did, and said, “I’ll get it.” Then to Lynette she added, “Come on, you look like you could do with a cuppa.”
Dragging the truth from Flo hadn’t just been draining, it had been depressing. And for one of them, at least, incredibly demoralising.
~
From their corner of the library kitchenette, Lynette watched Flo sip her glass of water while Alicia watched Lynette.
“Are you okay?” she asked, and Lynette glanced back and frowned.
“I’m good. How about you?” She sounded defensive, and Alicia pulled her towards her, attempting a hug, but Lynette pulled back.
“I’m sorry,” Lynette said, wrapping her arms across her chest. “I’m just… I don’t know. I just want this done with. I want to go home, and I want to get on with my life. Sick of all the deceit.”
“I know. It’s been horrible, and this isn’t exactly easy, but you’re doing good. We’re nearly there.”
Lynette shrugged like she didn’t care. “The sooner she’s locked up the better, if you ask me. Good riddance.”
Alicia watched her for a moment. “I know you liked her, Lynette. It’s okay that she became your friend.”
“She didn’t! I didn’t!” Lynette spat back, reaching for the boiling kettle.
They slipped into a glum silence as Lynette prepared them both a cup of peppermint tea, but as she did so, the younger sister’s mind drifted back to when she’d first met Flo.
Alicia was right. She had liked the woman. They had become fast friends. Lynette might have grizzled at the “cardigan-donning grannies” joining the club, judging them for their appearance just as she hated being judged herself, but she had warmed to them both so quickly, especially to Flo. The older woman had helped her in the kitchen, and later they had bonded over her diagnosis, but the truth was she didn’t know Flo at all.
None of them did.
A weekend together didn’t tell you anything. It didn’t matter a jot. They were as good as strangers. And now she wasn’t feeling quite so clever.
“Come on,” Lynette said. “Let’s get this over with.”
~
Back on the couch, Flo was still looking weary, but she was determined to forge on.
“Now, where was I?” she said, her voice still croaky. “Ah, yes, Jack Lyle. Old Snowy. I went to see him last night. We had a good chinwag, and I could see that he was contrite. But it was too little, too late. It certainly wouldn’t bring my Donnie back.”
She glared at the sisters, defying them to suggest otherwise, but both of them looked exhausted, sipping their tea quietly.
Flo said, “So I gave the man a choice. I could administer the needle, or he could do the honours. He decided on the latter and I’m glad of it.”
“How did you know he’d even take it?” asked Lynette. “He could have overpowered you. He could have made a run for it.”
“Guilt, my dear. I think, in the end, he wanted it to be over. Like I said, my brother’s spirit is up here. I think it’s been haunting him all this time.” She cackled suddenly, like she loved the sound of that.
Alicia frowned. “I’m still not sure how you got the poison.”
“The snake venom? Oh, didn’t I tell you? Got it from my sister’s grandson. Ronnie’s not the only one with useful rellies you know!” Cackled again. “Betty lives on a property in Dubbo. Her grandson keeps serpents. That’s where I got the idea. Angus extracts the venom for some biomedical mob; milks them himself, he does, then freezes it and sends it off. Gets paid a pretty penny for his efforts. I guess they use it to manufacture antivenom. In any case, I pinched a coupla vials. It was as easy as that.”
“Ah,” said Lynette, another piece falling into place. “You pinched it when you went to say goodbye to your family last month.”
Flo nodded. “I chose the deadliest venom, from the inland taipan. Painful but quick. You have to remember, I was getting it for myself at first, and I’m not scared of pain, but I’m also not a masochist.”
No, you’re a sadist, Lynette wanted to tell her, but Alicia was already shaking her head.
“I don’t believe you ever intended to use the poison on yourself, Flo,” she said. “It’s far too brutal and you know it. You saw what your sister went through when she was a child. I think you had revenge in mind from the beginning.”
Flo pursed her lips and looked away. She also looked increasingly weary and now was not the time to explore her subconscious, Alicia decided. They needed to get the full story out tonight because who knew how much Flo would clamp up when the police arrived and then lawyers started hovering?
“So you just handed Snowy the needle?” Lynette said. “And he agreed to kill himself?”
“Well, it did take him a good long while, didn’t it? I gave it to him last night! But I guess he finally found the courage. Must have done it right before Ronnie showed up.”
Flo’s face looked suddenly drawn, suddenly wretched. “I didn’t mean for Ronnie to find him! I… I never meant to put her through that. I was hoping he was gone by the time she got there. I never… Well, I never would have wished that on my dear old friend. She’ll probably never forgive me, and I can’t say I blame her.”
Alicia’s eyes were squinting again. “I’m sorry, but I still can’t get my head around the snake venom. That Snowy would willingly shoot himself up with something so agonising. I mean I know he was looking for atonement, but—”
“Atonement!” Flo bellowed, before coughing and spluttering and reaching for her glass. She took a good gulp and cleared her throat. “Do you really think anything will atone for what that bastard did to my Donnie? This is all his fault. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t forced my baby brother to head out into a burning forest, all to pay for one little misdemeanour. So Donal played around with his wife. So what? His form of justice was not fair, not at all. It wasn’t an eye for an eye, it was an eye for the entire body! More than that! It was an eye for a farm and all our livelihoods. And it wasn’t fair!”
She coughed again and waved a hand in front of her face. Then took another swig of water and a deep breath. “That’s why Snowy’s marriage fell apart, I reckon. I bet Lydia guessed what he had done and never forgave him. His own kids too. It was a Lyle family secret, an ugly little secret that destroyed them all. A secret that Vale kept and Mrs Flannery too. Snowy told me that was why he hid out there in the bush, in his hokey little hut. Said he wasn’t worthy of polite society after what he’d done to my brother, and he got that right! He said he was ‘paying his own penance,’ but I don’t believe him. I think he’s a coward and a bully and he should have come clean when it happened. He should have put my brother’s soul to rest a long time ago.”
Lynette suddenly snorted, almost laughing, and this caught Alicia by surprise. Flo too.
“What are you smirking at?” the older woman demanded. “What’s so damn funny?”
“I’m sorry, Flo,” Lynette said, placing a hand to her mouth. “But if what you believe about spirits is true… If they really do wander the earth where they took their final breath. Then I hate to break this to you, but Snowy is still here. So is Mrs Flannery and Vale for that matter.”
Lynette pointed to the shifting darkness beyond the window, a crack of lightning suddenly opening up the view, making the old woman jump. “Thanks to you, Flo, they’ve joined your brother out there in the forest for eternity.”
Alicia gasped at the very thought, and so did Flo. She looked distraught for a few minutes, then something crossed her face and the distress vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
She shrugged slowly and offered Lynette a small, wobbly smile. “Ah yes,” she said softly, coughing a little. “But Donnie was young and strong when he died… and his soul is too. He’ll make sure they get their comeuppance—all three of them. And if they don’t, I’ll see to it.”
“You?” said Lynette. “What will happen to you?”
“It’s already happening, dear…,” she said, her voice dropping away.
The sisters looked at each other confused for a moment, then down at the table, to the teapot and the teacup and the empty glass of water. There was something on the saucer they hadn’t noticed. It was a tiny glass vial. And it was empty too.
Lynette jumped up. “Oh my God! What have you done? Flo! What have you taken?”
“We need to get help!” said Alicia, looking around frantically. “Maybe there’s some antivenom somewhere.”
But Flo was holding a wobbly hand out towards them. “No point, girls. It’s not snake venom. I… I… found it in … the first aid cupboard. Not long… Please don’t leave. Stay.”
The sisters stared at each other aghast, unsure what to do.
“Please,” she said again. “Will you do as Ronnie did and keep me company?”
“Ronnie!” cried Alicia. “We can get Ronnie. She’ll know what to do.”
“No… please. She’s suffered enough. Just… come. Sit with me. Humour a bitter old lady to the end.”
The two sisters looked at each other alarmed, then something crossed Lynette’s face and she looked calmer suddenly, more resigned. She pulled her shoulders back and sat down beside Flo, taking one of her hands into her own.
Alicia watched her for a moment, tears springing from her eyes, then she sat down on the other side of the dying woman and took hold of her other hand. They sat there for a few minutes in silence, then Flo coughed again.
“I need to tell you something else,” she said, her voice barely audible.
“Flo,” began Lynette, but she shook her head.
“Please… you need to hear this. I need… I need you to tell Ronnie.” She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “I never wanted to hurt any of you. Never my intention. I… I only came for Donnie… did it all… for Donnie. You will be… okay.”
“We’ve been terrified of the fire, Flo,” said Alicia, not feeling as forgiving as her sister now. “We thought we’d be murdered in our beds.”
“I’m sorry. So… so… sorry.” She spluttered a little. “It’s why I… I laid the pretty table… and tried to make everything nice. I didn’t mean…” Coughed again. “I didn’t mean for it to be scary… tried to make it pleasant.”
She stopped and smiled suddenly, her whole face lighting up. “Ahh… listen to the rain now. The fire will soon be over… will all be over… They will come…”
The sisters did indeed hear rain, and it was louder this time, coming down in buckets, lashing against the windowpane and making a din on the tin roof above their heads. Alicia, for one, never thought she’d be so happy to have such miserable weather. She glanced back at Flo whose eyes were now rolling back in her head, and for a moment she thought she had passed, but then they fluttered open and she said:
“Lynette? You there, Lynette?”
Lynette squeezed her hand. “Yes, Flo. I’m here.”
She coughed. “Good.” Coughed again. “Promise me something… please… one thing.”
Lynette almost laughed at the audacity of the woman. She had set fire to the mountain and murdered two people, driven another to his grave, and who knows what had happened to Blake. And now she was asking for a favour? Really?
The older woman squeezed her hand then, and the smile she offered Lynette was beatific. “You are so beautiful, dear,” she said softly, her head resting against the back of the couch. “My Donnie boy… he would have fallen for you… just his type.”
Lynette smiled back, not sure how to respond to that.
“Please,” Flo managed, swallowing hard again. “Tell the truth… Tell my brother’s story. Make… make sure the world knows…”
Then her chin dropped onto her chest.
~
For ten long minutes, the two sisters sat there quietly, still holding the woman’s hands as she passed away, tears trickling down their faces, mirroring the rain on the window nearby. Alicia couldn’t seem to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, and Lynette was breathing heavily, like it was her lungs that were refusing to work.
But eventually they released their grip and stood up. Turned to each other and hugged each other tight.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been so weird lately,” Lynette began.
“No, I’m sorry if you thought I’d left you out. Or patronised you or treated you like you were stupid. I don’t think you’re stupid. I never have!”
“I know! It’s just my own shit.” She sniffed and hugged her tighter. “I love you, sis. I always will.”
Alicia smiled. “Good. But don’t ever do that.” She glanced down at the dead woman, who now looked surprisingly serene. “No matter what happens to me, don’t ever hurt other people in my name. And don’t give up your life for me. Really, I’m not worth it.”
They both laughed at that, feeling good to have a release, then they turned and walked out of the room, into the corridor.
“I’m going to wake Ronnie,” Alicia said. “I think she would want me to.”
Lynette nodded and they hugged again before Alicia headed towards the rooms while Lynette headed for the lobby. The rain was now hammering the rooftop, and she smiled and stepped outside under the awning to watch as it pelted down. She hugged her arms across her chest, feeling cold for the first time all weekend, and kept watching as the rain kept coming in heart-warming, fire-dousing bursts, then she squinted, peering through it, to the dark, tangled forest beyond. She felt a slight shiver, then made a little wish.
Despite everything Flo had done and said, all the evil and the horror, Lynette could not help wishing that the woman’s theory was true.
That despite everything, Flo was finally being reunited with her beloved brother.
As it turned out, Lynette would not need to tell the story of Donal Murphy and how he was marched towards certain death by an aggrieved husband in the Great Fire of 1970. Blake Morrow was found in a nearby hospital, alive but suffering burns to 55 percent of his body. He had been picked up by a neighbouring fire crew and was placed straight into an induced coma. The blanket he kept in his Mercedes was the one thing that had kept him alive. He had huddled under it and had survived.
It would be many months before Blake left hospital though, and he would never have his handsome looks again nor his arrogant, cocky nature. But that didn’t bother Lynette, who had just visited him in Concord Hospital where his skin grafts were coming along nicely.
“Blake still wants to tell the story of Donal Murphy,” she told the others as they gathered for another book club meeting, this one safely in Lynette and Alicia’s inner-city living room. “His boss has given him extra time, of course, but he’s given him more than that. He’s got something to cling to now, something to live for. Blake never would have picked the ending though and says he’d like to interview all of us when he finally gets better. It’s more than an article now; he’s turning it into a book.”
“Sounds like he might be a mega success after all,” said Perry.
“Yes, but at what cost?” replied Lynette.
Since the weekend at Lyle’s, she had abandoned her dreams of cooking for a Michelin-star restaurant and had applied to a local college to study business and hospitality. She still wanted the Michelin star, but she wanted it for her own restaurant. It was time to stop waiting for others to tell her she was good enough and believe in herself. And she needed to smarten up to do it.
“It’s going to be one hell of a story when it all comes out,” said Ronnie, the only new member of the Murder Mystery Book Club Mark II to remain with the group.
Simon had only signed up to sample Lyle’s Lodge as a guest and was now too busy with the renovations to continue. He had overridden his business partner though, and they were treading gently, he’d told Claire, who relayed this to them as they sipped glasses of minty pineapple punch from a jug Lynette had prepared.
“Simon says they’re going to restore Lyle’s Lodge to its former glory, right down to the parquetry flooring and formal dining. They’re even going to resume the dances every three months just as Lydia Lyle did.”
“I hope that doesn’t mean the hunting is resuming too?” said Perry, and she shook her head no.
“They’re going for ecolodge not hunting lodge, thankfully.”
“If only I were fifty years younger,” said Ronnie, wistfully. “I’d go back and have another fabulous affair with a dishy Dutch man!” She smiled wickedly. “And you, dear? What are you going to do? Are you going to accept the job at Lyle’s?”
Because that was Claire’s big secret, the thing she was terrified to tell the others. It had burst out of her eventually but not until the RFS had burst in—Benson at the front, Jackson coming up the rear. Alicia decided then and there that she would never let her boyfriend out of her sight again! It was while driving back down the mountain, gasping at the charred, ruined remains of the once-beautiful rainforest, that Claire found the courage to admit what she had done.
Lyle’s Lodge might have been Flo’s sneaky suggestion, via an email from an unsuspecting Ronnie, but it had become Claire’s passion. No sooner had she clicked on the link, she was smitten. It was while poring over the site that she found her way to a page advertising positions vacant. Lyle’s was looking for a new manager, and so she had sent in her application, not realising it would go directly to Simon’s PA, Queenie, at Living Large Enterprises.
Simon hadn’t realised when he joined the club that the Claire who had sent such a charming résumé was also Claire from the book club, the woman he was fast falling in love with. They only put it all together the afternoon they spent holed up in his room, and she explained all this to Alicia as the two women made the grim journey back to Lyleton. She didn’t expect Alicia to forgive her, she said, but she hoped she would understand why she was accepting the position Simon had offered.
“I love my little vintage clothing store,” she told the group now. “But I’m as stale as the old frocks in my shop. I desperately need a challenge.”
“I completely understand,” said Lynette.
“Me too,” said Missy. “As sad as I am to see you go, possum, a change is as good as a holiday, my Aunty Dora always says. But…” She swallowed hard. “You’re not worried about, you know, all the spirits up there now?”
Claire smiled. “I don’t believe all that stuff, Missy.”
“What about fires then?” said Perry, helping himself to an egg-and-cress sandwich from a spread laid out beside the jug.
Several of them shuddered at the thought of another bushfire, and even Claire’s smile wavered.
“It is a worry, I do understand that. But it’s oddly heartening to hear that both fires that weekend were deliberately lit—totally avoidable. The first was back-burning gone wrong. They nearly had that under control when Flo’s fire roared down and set it off again. So, no, I’m not really worried, but Simon assures me they are doing a lot of clearing—especially the fire trails—and are also clearing and flattening some land near the lodge for a helipad, just in case. So we’ll have an easier evacuation option if, God forbid, it does happen again.”
“That’s a relief,” said Alicia. “So when do you go up?”
“The renos should be underway within the month, and I’ll be going up to help with those. Simon wants my advice on vintage furnishings and fixtures.” She smiled. “He loves my shop and wants the same inspiration for Lyle’s interiors.”
“Will you sell the store?” asked Perry, and she shook her head firmly.
“I’m not giving that up, not yet.” Claire had been let down by love before and wasn’t quite as trusting of it as she once was. “But I need a change. I really do! Simon’s building a special residence for me, well, for the manager. So I can have more privacy than Vale was ever allowed.”
“Good plan,” said Ronnie, remembering Vale tucked up in bed. “What about Snowy’s cabin? What happens to that?”
“They’re demolishing it, sadly. It’s riddled with white ants.”
“And bad spirits,” said Missy, who was holding fast to Flo’s theory.
Claire ignored that. “They’re repairing Repentance Way and building a small viewing platform on the escarpment; have abandoned the idea of luxury villas. Simon wants everyone to enjoy it. It really does have the premiere view.”
“Speaking of Repentance Way,” said Perry. “Did we ever work out who started the rock fall that nearly took you and Flo out, Alicia? Was that deliberate do we think?”
They all looked to Alicia, and she shrugged. “I’ve been wondering about that and whether it’s related to the remark Vale made about an imposter. Was he referring to Blake? Did he recognise his byline and then sneak up the forbidden path and dislodge some rocks, just to frighten him off, but got us instead? Or did Vale maybe recognise Flo? Did he see something of Donal in her features? I really don’t know, and I guess we never will, but the truth is, I can’t see Vale doing any of that. I have no idea if he had any involvement with Donal’s death—I guess Blake will eventually find out—but I think harming guests would go against the hotelier’s principles, his very fabric. Besides, every time I recall the shadowy figure on the ridge, I think of Snowy.”
“You think Snowy dislodged the rocks?” asked Missy, but Alicia shook her head no.
“If anyone dislodged the rocks, it was probably Simon, accidentally, on his first walk. But I wonder whether Snowy witnessed the near miss and realised the track was getting more dangerous by the day. There was no avoiding the fact that he would need to move out and let the new owners repair it. No matter what their plans were, that was inevitable.”
She glanced at Lynette who said, “Jackson spoke to the manager of Shady Nook—that’s the aged-care home I thought Flo had been researching on the lodge computer. Turns out Shady Nook is based in Lyleton and it was Vale who emailed them that night, enquiring about a room for Snowy. Snowy wasn’t suicidal. At least not until Flo got to him.”
Lynette smiled sadly. “I can’t help wondering about their final night together—Vale and Snowy. Vale obviously took Snowy some food and, we think, a copy of the book we were reading.” She winked at Missy. “Jackson said there was a brand-new edition of And Then There Were None amongst Snowy’s things.”
“The missing ninth book!” said Missy.
She nodded. “It was probably a gift from Vale, something to get old Snowy’s mind off what he was about to tell him—that a tabloid journalist was lurking, that the past was catching up with him. I can only assume that’s when they discussed moving him out.”
“But I thought Snowy told you he’d never leave the mountain,” said Missy. “That they’d have to remove him in a coffin.”
“Yes, the mountain,” said Lynette, “and Lyleton is still on that mountain, albeit halfway down. I reckon Snowy was just moving down to Shady Nook. That’s all it was.”
“And you,” said Perry, now turning back to Claire. “What’s going to happen when you move up the mountain? Isn’t Simon’s office in Sydney? I thought you two were now an item.”
“We are,” she said, blushing like a schoolgirl. “But it’s early days and we’re taking it slow. We’ll see each other daily during the renovations and see what unfolds.”
“Smart thinking, Claire,” said Ronnie. “Never give your life over entirely to a man. That’s where Flo went wrong. He might have been her brother, but she gave up her life for Donal. Never got over it. She might have been dying at the end, but she never really lived, not since that weekend in 1970.”
“They’re placing a plaque on the lookout,” Claire told her. “Memorialising Donal.”
“Well, good on them, but it’s too little, too late,” Ronnie snapped back. “If only the Lyles had done that decades ago, none of this might have happened.”
They slipped into a sullen silence then, thinking of what might have been, before Lynette asked Ronnie, “How have you been faring?”
Flo’s suicide had been traumatic enough for her and Alicia. She couldn’t imagine what Ronnie had been through with Snowy. The older woman waved her off.
“I’m fine, dear. Don’t forget I was a very capable nurse before Bert took me away from all that. I’m not going to forget Snowy in a hurry, of course, but I’m glad I was there to see him through. I know he wasn’t innocent, but I’m not sure he deserved that.”
“Why didn’t he just step off the escarpment?” asked Alicia. “Why subject himself to the poison?”
Ronnie shrugged and said simply, “Penance.”
Then she dropped her eyes as the word settled in around them.
“I’m sorry I lied to you all,” she said eventually.
It was the elephant in the room.
“It’s okay,” Claire began, but Ronnie shook her head firmly.
“No, I need to say this. I need to clear the air.” She smoothed her skirt down as she prepared her next words. “We met at grief counselling, Flo and I. Did I tell you that? It was only ten years ago, although it feels a lot longer. I’d just lost Bert, and she said she’d lost her husband Ian and her brother Donnie. Told me Donnie had perished fighting a fire at a fancy hotel somewhere in the mountains. She was still so consumed by grief I assumed it had happened recently. Not all the way back in 1970!”
She shook her head, remembering it. “Anyway, we became friends, Flo and I, and I invited her to join the Ladies Auxiliary. I never thought any more of it. Honestly I didn’t. She didn’t want to talk about it. We left it at that.”
Her eyes danced around the group. “Then we met this lovely book club and you so kindly invited us to join you for the weekend. I honestly didn’t remember Lyle’s until I stepped into that lobby. And I honestly didn’t remember Donal Murphy until Blake said something at dinner that first night that sounded strangely familiar—about a young hunter who was killed in a fire. I remember looking across at Flo and she had gone completely white. I thought she would faint. Then, at breakfast the next morning, the subject came up again, and again Flo looked startled. She dropped her cup like she’d been slapped. But he never used Donal’s name, so I didn’t think too much of it. Even after Vale was found, I… Well, I never really connected the dots.”
She gave them an apologetic smile. “For a bright woman I can be a bit dim. It wasn’t until I started reading through the old guest books and saw the name Donal Murphy in there a few times that I grew suspicious. I recalled that Flo’s maiden name was Murphy, and she had a brother called Donnie, who had died in a hotel fire. But… I guess I didn’t want to believe it. Then… then we found Mrs Flannery.”
She turned her gaze to Alicia. “I nearly said something to you, I really did, but I kept hearing how busy your brain can be, and I didn’t want to overload you any further.”
“Did you broach the subject with Flo?” she asked.
“Not directly, no.” She held her palms up. “I know it sounds cowardly, but it seemed so outlandish that she would do such a thing! I still wasn’t sure it was her, and I was trying to play it smart. If Flo had done it, she must be deranged! And how would she react if I confronted her? We were all stuck up there on that mountain together. A fire raging. No chance of escape.”
She shuddered. Sighed. “We danced around the subject a few times, and she knew that I knew. I realise that now. In any case, the message she was giving me was loud and clear. The book club would all be okay. She kept saying that, over and over, and telling me to let it go. I… I had to believe that if she was out for vengeance it had nothing to do with us. None of us knew her brother. I thought that we’d be safe.”
“Still, you followed her like a shadow,” said Lynette, remembering Ronnie loitering under the fig tree.
She nodded. “I needed to keep an eye on her, just in case. But I honestly thought if she was the culprit, then she was finished. It was over.” She turned to Perry. “Then you mentioned that Snowy was still alive and living out on the escarpment…” She thrust a hand to her throat. “I was horrified to hear that! I never would have guessed! That’s when I realised that Flo hadn’t quite finished yet. I got to Snowy’s cabin as soon as I could… but not quite soon enough.” She sniffed, tried to smile. “That’s why I’m glad I was able to hold his hand through it. It’s the least I could do.”
“You lied about his deathbed confession?” said Alicia, no judgement in her tone. “To protect Flo.”
“To protect you, dear! All of you. Snowy told me what had happened, said not to judge Flo too harshly. But I couldn’t very well say that! She was sitting right there amongst us! It might enflame her further, and I thought the less you all knew, the safer you would be. I wanted to shut it all down and get you off that blasted mountain, get you away from someone I thought was a friend. I never… never in a million years would I have picked her for a killer. Even when the evidence started to pile up… never.”
There was a group sigh as they all shifted in their seats, and then Lynette asked, “Did you know she was dying? Flo?”
Ronnie waggled a hand in the air. “She never said as much, but it was obvious she wasn’t well. She had a bath bag full of pills in her bedroom, I knew what was what. She still had so much energy though, which surprised me. I was also surprised to hear she had added that link to my email, lured us all here so sneakily. I didn’t even realise she knew how to use a computer! I lied about that too, Alicia. I’m so sorry.”
“I know. Flo told us,” Alicia replied. “And I’m sorry if you thought I suspected you.”
“You did suspect me, you wicked thing!” She smiled. “But I don’t blame you, dear. I would have made the perfect suspect in a crime novel.”
“Speaking of which,” said Perry, exhaling again as he reached for a book. “Shall we get on with the next one?”
He tapped his copy of Still Waters, the first in the Sandhamn Murders series by a Swedish author called Viveca Sten. It was Perry’s job to choose a new author, and he had wanted to try someone more modern than Christie, but with the same clever plotting and endearing ensemble characters. Despite its setting, this was more “Cozy Mystery” than “Nordic Noir”, so he knew it wouldn’t unsettle jittery Alicia.
Even the title seemed comforting given all they had recently been through.
“Yes, please!” said Missy, wiping her eyes, which had been dripping tears as Ronnie spoke. Just one glance at the book in his hand and her smile was already returning.
“I’m in,” said Claire, adding, “at least for now…”
Alicia reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You can always come back, Claire, be our VIP whenever you get a chance.”
“I’d like that. But listen, I might have found my replacement.” She took a deep breath, worried how they’d react. “Queenie, Simon’s PA. She said she’d love to join this club if you’ll have her.”
“I bet she would!” said Perry. “The little minx. Are we really going to forgive her for providing Simon with his sneaky alias?”
“It’s because she came up with that alias that I’m going to forgive her!” said Alicia. “You have to admit, that was pretty smart. And the letter she wrote on Simon’s behalf was really lovely. Hate to say it, but I think she’d make a great addition to the club.”
“She is lovely,” Claire agreed. “I’ve gotten to know her through Simon, and she’s very switched on; what she doesn’t know about crime fiction isn’t worth knowing. I think she might even give you a run for your money, Missy.”
Missy’s eyes narrowed beneath her spectacles. “There’s a challenge I’m willing to accept!”
“Okay then,” said Alicia, glancing around the group as they each nodded their approval. “That still leaves us a little short. Do we want to start hunting for more members again?”
Several of them groaned at the very thought, and Lynette said, “Must we? I think I’m done with newbies. No offence, Ronnie.”
She smiled sadly. “None taken.”
“But that means there’s just seven of us,” said Alicia. “And when Claire leaves, there will just be six.”
“And then there were—”
“Don’t say it!” cried Perry, a hand at Missy’s lips. “Do not finish that sentence!”
Then they all broke into laughter—comforting, much-needed, well-earned laughter—as they reached for a fresh new mystery.
~~ the end ~~
Christina Larmer is a journalist, editor, teacher and author of four crime series, two stand-alone novels and the non-fiction book A Measure of Papua New Guinea (Focus; 2008). Christina grew up in the tropics, spent several years working in London, Los Angeles and New York, and now lives on the east coast of Australia with her musician husband, two sons and one very cheeky Blue Heeler.
Sign up to my mailing list to be notified about new releases, exclusive giveaways and my latest news and views: calarmer.com
Want to read more by C.A. Larmer?
The Murder Mystery Book Club
The Murder Mystery Book Club (Book 1)
Danger On the SS Orient (Book 2)
Death Under the Stars (Book 3)
Ghostwriter Mysteries:
Killer Twist (Book 1)
A Plot to Die For (Book 2)
Last Writes (Book 3)
Dying Words (Book 4)
Words Can Kill (Book 5)
A Note Before Dying (Book 6)
Without a Word (Book 7)
Posthumous Mysteries:
Sleuths of Last Resort:
Smart Girls Don’t Trust Strangers
Plus:
After the Ferry: A Gripping Psychological Novel
~~~