The Dead of Midnight

Book excerpt: Members of a mystery book club find that the events from their favorite murder mysteries are coming true in their own quiet Winnipeg neighborhood, in Catherine Hunter's The Dead of Midnight Members of the Mystery au Lait Café book club can't get enough of the Midnight Mystery Series--until the books' terrifying crimes begin to happen for real in the quiet town where the club meets. Someone is imitating the Midnight Mystery murders and killing off the book club, one member at a time. Meanwhile, sales of the series skyrocket as attention is drawn to the books and to the club where the craze began. When both the ex-wife and current girlfriend of local musician Peter Petursson are terrorized, many conclude that Peter's is the cruel hand behind the reenactments. But there are still leads to follow and evidence to be gathered . . . Perhaps one of the book club members has a twisted side that just hasn't shown itself over coffee and cookies at the meetings. Maybe the café owner is willing to lose a few loyal customers in exchange for a flurry of new ones. Or maybe the publisher simply knows good publicity when he sees it.