Amy Patricia Meade Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby

Amy Patricia Meade

Midnight Ink, Apr 2006, $14,95

ISBN: 0738708607

During the Depression British expatriate millionaire Creighton Ashcroft arrives in Ridgebury, Connecticut, which would mean very little to New Englanders except he drove to town in a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a vehicle no one ever saw before. He moves into the affluent Kensington House Mansion while the town is agog over the apparent affluent outsider. That is everyone except local mystery writer Marjorie McClelland who looks down upon Creighton even as he is attracted to her.

Marjorie decides Creighton can prove handy because she would like to write a story about the suicide of a previous resident, Henry Van Allen. Seeing this as an opportunity to get on her better side, Creighton agrees to assist Marjorie starting with showing her the place. However, they quickly stumble upon the partially buried corpse of the gardener. While the local police investigate that murder, Marjorie with her loyal sidekick Creighton at her side begin to look into the death of Henry, as she theorizes he was murdered.

The first Marjorie McClelland mystery uses the Depression to accentuate the class distinctions between the lead amateur sleuths even while an attraction and respect grow for one another. The whodunit is cleverly crafted to amplify the battles between Creighton and Marjorie as well as to compare their investigation to that of the cops. The fascinating lead couple relationship turns MILLION DOLLAR BABY into a fun historical mystery.

Harriet Klausner