Murder at Hammond Castle

Book excerpt: Editorial Review of "Murder on Bearskin Neck," the first Annie Quitnot mystery: "Caulfield fills the pages with excellent insider details that ring true and make the reader feel right at home in Rockport, Massachusetts...This sweet novel of small-town simplicity and duplicity could zing off the shelves...the author has done her homework and knows the setting, the details, and the tics and tells of this small community and its inhabitants. She offers a well-constructed tale with plenty of red herrings and insight into the lives of her colorful characters." -Clarion Review "Murder at Hammond Castle" In this second Annie Quitnot mystery, Annie, the local reference librarian, pokes her nose into fresh murders on Cape Ann-especially since they hit close to home, taking place during her own wedding at the famous Hammond Castle. During the medieval dinner that follows the ceremony in the Great Hall, a small boat runs aground on Norman's Woe, an islet just outside the castle, and is blown to smithereens. As the Coast Guard helicopter hoists a lifeless body into the basket, the wedding guests are left to wonder who the skipper was. While they are still trying to recapture the feeling of festivity, Annie's wedding is disrupted by another murder, this time inside the castle. Annie, naturally, has to find the murderer who put such a pall on her wedding. She casts about for likely suspects. Is a local cult, heavily involved in the fishing industry, trying to cause a scandal and force the castle to go bankrupt, which would give them an ideal opportunity acquire more valuable shoreline? Is the curator in financial trouble-or maybe jealous of the murdered popular young man, who was related to Hammond? And what about the young assistant in the castle shop, with his body tattoos and punk look as well as a mysterious past?