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The Body in the Gazebo: A Faith Fairchild Mystery    by Katherine Hall Page Amazon.com order for
Body in the Gazebo
by Katherine Hall Page
Order:  USA  Can
William Morrow, 2011 (2011)
Hardcover, e-Book
* *   Reviewed by Bob Walch

Once again recipes and mayhem are the ingredients of the mixing bowl as Katherine Hall Page cooks up a storm with her culinary sleuth Faith Fairchild. The main course this time simmered for seven decades before it was ready for the table.

When Faith's friend and neighbor Pix Rowe Miller heads off to help prepare for her son's upcoming nuptials, she asks the caterer if she would mind keeping an eye on Ursula, her mother. Kate says yes, never imagining that the simple senior sitting assignment would turn into a major mystery investigation.

Over eighty years of age, Ursula has been carrying a deep, dark, family secret regarding the death of her brother decades before. During the Great Depression, Ursula's brother was murdered and an innocent person went to jail for the crime. Now someone is apparently blackmailing the old woman about the case.

While she is trying to untangle this mess and potential deadly situation, Faith also has a problem within her own household. Money is missing from a church fund and Thomas, her husband and the pastor, is the only one who has access to the funds. Obviously, he didn't take the money, but Faith has to help clear his name as well as help Pix's mom.

She'll be hard pressed to keep a smile on her face and scrumptious goodies on the table, but Faith has weathered worse situations. The frosting on this cake, so to speak, may well be the surprise that Pix experiences when she discovers who her son's new father-in-law will be. Talk about a somewhat unwelcomed blast from the past! But, I'll let you discover this bitter-sweet morsel!

Besides the satisfaction of having read a good book, the reward for finishing this whodunit is a collection of five recipes you’ll discover at the end of the novel.

You might want to cheat and try Ursula's Rum Cake before you reach the final page. If you plan to stay up late reading, it might be nice to have something tasty to munch on!

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