Leslie Caine Manor of Death

Manor of Death

Leslie Caine

Dell, Feb 2006, $6.99, $372 pp.

ISBN 0440241774

In Crestview, Colorado, homeowners are getting their houses in shape in preparation for the upcoming Historic Home Tour. Interior Designer Erin Gilbert is contracted to renovate Francine Findley's Victorian mansion, even though she won't let Erin take down the wall that sealed off the only staircase to the roof. It was closed off decades ago after a teenager jumped from that same roof. Erin doesn't give credence to the rumors that the mansion is haunted, but when she sees a young woman on Francine's roof, she believe the person is the very much alive Willow McAndrews, who lives on the other side of Francine's abode with Diana Durst.

When Willow falls off the same roof as the dead Abby did over four decades ago, Erin is a witness and sees Lisa, Francine's daughter, on the roof. Lisa declares she got there after Willow fell, but Erin believes Lisa isn't telling everything she knows. Helped by her business rival Steve Sullivan, they search for clues that will lead to Willow's killer. When a second person dies, one who is linked to Willow, both Erin and Steve think the murders are somehow linked to Abby's death. Now all they have to do is find the evidence to prove it without getting killed.

Leslie Caine has written a charming amateur sleuth tale that is filled with humor, intrigue, and a complicated who done it. This murder is up close and personal for Erin because the evidence points to several different neighbors as possible suspects, and she suspects that when the killer is found she is going to be upset because it will be someone she trusted implicitly. Erin feels for Steve a more powerful emotion than annoyance, one that could change her life if she has the courage to look into her heart. Perhaps she will in future books.