Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for The Body in the Casket, a Culinary Cozy Mystery by Katherine Hall Page (5 December 2017, William Morrow, 272 pages). This is the twenty-fourth book in the Faith Fairchild Mysteries series. Each book is a stand-alone novel; below you will find full details of all titles in the series!
Last year author Katherine Hall Page spoke to us about The Body In The Wardrobe - don't miss it!PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and the Kindle Cloud Reader Preview below.
“A cracking good traditional manor house mystery.” — Publishers Weekly
“The always-engaging Fairchild and the supporting cast of spirited recurring characters will appeal to fans of Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Schulz series and Carolyn Hart’s Annie Darling novels.” — Booklist
Author Katherine Hall Page will be awarding a physical copy of The Body In The Casket to three randomly drawn winners via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).
|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || The Series || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||
Synopsis
The inimitable Faith Fairchild returns in a chilling New England whodunit, inspired by the best Agatha Christie mysteries and with hints of the timeless board game Clue.For most of her adult life, resourceful caterer Faith Fairchild has called the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford home. While the native New Yorker has come to know the region well, she isn’t familiar with Havencrest, a privileged enclave, until the owner of Rowan House, a secluded sprawling Arts and Crafts mansion, calls her about catering a weekend house party.
Producer/director of a string of hit musicals, Max Dane—a Broadway legend—is throwing a lavish party to celebrate his seventieth birthday. At the house as they discuss the event, Faith’s client makes a startling confession. "I didn’t hire you for your cooking skills, fine as they may be, but for your sleuthing ability. You see, one of the guests wants to kill me."
Faith’s only clue is an ominous birthday gift the man received the week before—an empty casket sent anonymously containing a twenty-year-old Playbill from Max’s last, and only failed, production—Heaven or Hell. Consequently, Max has drawn his guest list for the party from the cast and crew. As the guests begin to arrive one by one, and an ice storm brews overhead, Faith must keep one eye on the menu and the other on her host to prevent his birthday bash from becoming his final curtain call.
Full of delectable recipes, brooding atmosphere, and Faith’s signature biting wit, The Body in the Casket is a delightful thriller that echoes the beloved mysteries of Agatha Christie and classic films such as Murder by Death and Deathtrap.
The Series: Faith Fairchild Mysteries
Massachusetts minister’s wife, caterer, and sometime amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild stars in the Agatha Award-winning mystery series by Katherine Hall Page that provides mystery, heart, wit, suspense, and mouthwatering recipes aplenty.Each book can can be read as a stand-alone novel.
|| [1] || [2] || [3] || [4] || [5] || [6] || [7] || || [8] || [9] || [10] || [11] || [12] || [13] || [14] || || [15] || [16] || [17] || [18] || [19] || [20] || [21] || || [22] || || [23] || Small Plates ||
Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.
The Body in the Belfry [1]
During her years spent in New York City. Faith Fairchild was convinced she had seen pretty much everything. But the transplanted caterer/minister's wife was unprepared for the surprises awaiting her in the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford. And she is especially taken aback by the dead body of a pretty young thing she discovers stashed in the church's belfry. The victim, Cindy Shepherd. was well-known locally for her acid tongue and her jilted beaux, which created a lot of bad blood and more than a few possible perpetrators -- including her luckless fiance, who had neither an alibi nor a better way to break off the engagement. Faith thinks it's terribly unfair that the police have zeroed in on the hapless boyfriend, and so she sets out to uncover the truth. But digging too deeply into the sordid secrets of a small New England village tends to make the natives nervous. And an overly curious big city lady can become just another small town death statistic in very short order. [Published 15 January 1990, 320 pages]
The Body in the Kelp [2]
It seems as if nothing is going to liven up Faith Fairchild's deathly dull vacation on Maine's Sanpere Island -- until she buys a beautiful handmade quilt at an estate auction. Lovingly constructed by wealthy, deceased, and detested Matilda Prescott, Faith's purchase turns out to be quite a bargain indeed -- especially when she discovers it to be a map to the old woman's hidden treasure. But instead of pointing the transplanted New York caterer-turned-minister's wife toward the fabled Prescott gold, Matilda's artfully crafted clues lead Faith to a kelp-covered corpse floating in a nearby tidal pool. Once again, the resourceful amateur sleuth has become entangled in a dangerous puzzle, ensnared in twisted, lethal threads of familial greed and cold-blooded homicide. And Faith won't be satisfied until she has the whole murderous matter sewn up. [Published 15 December 1990, 304 pages]
The Body in the Bouillon [3]
Murder Served Piping HotMinister's wife, sometime sleuth, and culinary artist Faith Sibley Fairchild is intrigued by rumors of mysterious doings at Hubbard House -- an elegant, secluded retirement home for the well-heeled Yankees of Aleford, Massachusetts. Determined to do some surreptitious snooping, she joins the pricey retreat's flu-depleted kitchen staff, only to witness an aging resident collapse face-first into a bowl of Faith's hot and savory bouillon. But it isn't until a blackmailing drug dealer turns up dead in Faith's bedroom that the amateur investigator realizes that Murder not only happens at Hubbard, it's the specialty of the house! And Faith's own demise might very well be the next item on the menu.
[Published 15 November 1991, 304 pages]
The Body in the Vestibule [4]
Satisfying her hunger for epicurean adventure in the French provinces, small town caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild decides to throw the perfect dinner party. But during cleanup after the last guest has departed her gastronomical triumph, she encounters something neither expected nor welcome: a dead body lying in her vestibule. Unfortunately it doesn't help la belle americaine's credibility when the corpse vanishes before the local gendarmes arrive. But Faith realizes that, though the police refuse to take her seriously, a killer just might. And if she doesn't get to the bottom of this fiendish French conundrum, Faith's recent successful feast could end up being her last. [Published 15 July 1992, 352 pages]
The Body in the Cast[5]
Hollywood has come to town -- and Faith Fairchild has to feed it! Hired to cater meals for the movie crew that is filming a modernday version of The Scarlet Letter in the tiny New England village of Aleford, Faith is eager to treat the talented tantrum-throwers to the best of her culinary delights. But an accusation that her famous Black Bean Soup is poison has left a bad taste in Faith's mouth. Her exploration into the source of the nasty slander leads the amateur investigator behind the scenes to a shocking off-camera murder. And suddenly more than Faith's reputation is at stake -- her life itself could end up on the cutting room floor. [Published 15 October 1993, 368 pages]
The Body in the Basement [6]
A Good Foundation ... For MurderPix Miller, Faith Fairchild's next-door neighbor, expects to find more than a hole in the ground when she goes to check on the progress of the summer cottage the Fairchilds are having built on Maine's Sanpere Island. She expects a concrete foundation. What she doesn't expect is a very dead body wrapped in a very valuable antique quilt! The deceased is a local handyman with a suspiciously lucrative sideline in antiques. Sharing her friend Faith's inquisitive nature, Pix resolves to restore Sanpere's shattered peace. But by digging too deeply the determined Ms. Miller just might be arranging another burial -- her own!
[Published 15 September 1994, 368 pages]
The Body in the Bog [7]
Faith Fairchild is momentarily shocked to find her husband, the Reverend Thomas Fairchild, embracing Lora Deane -- and relieved to discover the distraught nursery school teacher is merely seeking solace and advice. Lora has been receiving threatening phone calls. And she's not the only resident of tiny Aleford, Massachusetts, who is being terrorized. Ever since local environmentalists have begun protesting the proposed housing development that will destroy Beecher's Bog, the more vocal opponents have become targets of a vicious campaign of intimidation-which is more than enough reason for Faith to launch into some clandestine sleuthing. But when a body turns up in the charred ruins of a very suspicious house fire, Faith is suddenly investigating a murder -- and in serious danger of getting bogged down in a very lethal mess indeed! [Published 1 March 1996, 384 pages]
The Body in the Fjord [8]
This time out, smalltown caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild's neighbor, Pix Miller, takes center stage, heading off to Norway to investigate the sudden disappearance of a family friend. Determined to discover the truth, Pix is drawn into a suspenseful world of intrigue, stolen antiques, secret histories, and deadly echoes from Norway's past and the Nazi occupation. Surrounded by the country's breathtaking beauty, the ever-resourceful New Englander perseveres -- until at last she finds herself face-to-face with a remorseless killer...with no way out. [Published 5 November 1997, 304 pages]
The Body in the Bookcase [9]
Stretched almost to the limit by the capricious demands of a Boston Brahmin bride-to-be, caterer and minister's wife, Faith Fairchild, faces real tragedy when she discovers the body of an elderly friend. Sarah Winslow had apparently surprised burglars ransacking her Aleford, Massachusetts, house. No sooner has Sarah been laid to rest than the Fairchilds find themselves the next target -- the parsonage is stripped of all their most precious possessions. Devastated and furious, Faith takes action, scouring pawnshops, antique marts, and auctions. As she turns up some of their stolen property, she is drawn onto a dangerous path of larceny and corruption in New England's venerable antique business -- a path that soon leads Faith straight to a killer! [Published 21 October 1998, 284 pages]
The Body In The Big Apple [10]
Before she met and married the Reverend Thomas Fairchild and moved to sleepy little Aleford, Massachusetts, Faith Sibley Fairchild had a catering business in the most colorful, frenetic, and exciting city in the world...Young, ambitious and single in New York City in the late '809s, Faith Sibley is energized by the early success of her Have Faith catering enterprise. But she's cast into an unexpected new role when she runs into old high school friend Emma Stanstead at a swanky uptown party: sleuth! An anonymous blackmmailer is threatening to expose certain secrets of socialite Emma's less than glamorous past -- thereby destroying her reputation and her conservative husband's fast-rising political career -- and Faith fearlessly leaps into the fray. Though she lacks experience, Faith's keen instinct, insight, and determination to unmask and extortionist quickly carry her deep into the high and low life of the bustling Big Apple. And when a murder raises the stakes, Faith realizes that it's not just her old friend's good name that's in peril...it's Emma's life itself.
[Published 1 February 1999, 308 pages]
The Body in the Moonlight [11]
Minister's wife Faith Fairchild is excited about catering her church's restoration campaign kickoff at historic Ballou House. But when a beautiful young woman dies moments after finishing dessert, Faith is suddenly in serious trouble. Not only is her business in jeopardy -- but Aleford's wagging tongues are suggesting that Faith herself laced the goodie with cyanide, having discovered her husband Tom's perhaps overly pastoral interest in the victim. Faith's world feels steeped in poison and never before have her amateur sleuthing skills been more crucial -- especially when another body is found in the moonlight carrying an unmistakable warning: you're next! [Published 20 February 2001, 352 pages]
The Body in the Bonfire [12]
Caterer and small-town minister's wife Faith Fairchild might never have accepted the job teaching a course on Cooking for Idiots at Mansfield Academy had it not been for Daryl Martin. An African-American student at the prestigious prep school, Daryl has lately become the target of a series of vicious and anonymous racial attacks -- and Faith is determined to put an end to the injustice. But Mansfield, she finds, is a seething cauldron of secrets, academic in-fighting, and unspoken rules that complicate her task. When someone tampers with her classroom cooking ingredients -- and then the remains of her prime suspect are discovered smoldering in a campus bonfire -- she realizes that a monstrous evil is stalking both Daryl and the school. And suddenly Faith's own life is in serious jeopardy as well! [Published 19 February 2002, 352 pages]
The Body in the Lighthouse [13]
Something was very wrong on Sanpere this summer . . .To escape the misery of a sweltering August in Aleford, Massachusetts, caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild and her family head for their cottage on Maine's peaceful Sanpere Island in Penobscot Bay. But things have changed since their last visit. An aggressive developer is moving forward on plans that will destroy the unique ambience of the island, infuriating residents. Tensions are running dangerously high, and soon murder rears its hideous head. Faith discovers a corpse while exploring the grounds of Sanpere's historic lighthouse. With fear running rampant and volatile emotions approaching the detonation point, the intrepid sleuth must track down a killer for the sake of a friend and the island she loves.
[Published 29 April 2003, 262 pages]
Body in the Attic [14]
Caterer Faith Fairchild and family are living in one of historic Cambridge, Massachusetts', venerable Brattle Street houses while the Reverend Tom teaches a course at the Harvard Divinity School and does some soul searching -- is his Aleford parish his true calling? One night in downtown Boston, Faith is startled by a face from her past. It's Richard Morgan, a former boyfriend from her life as a single woman in Manhattan. Their heady, whirlwind affair in the waning days of the self-indulgent 1980s ended abruptly. Now he's back, as exciting as ever.Then something occurs that turns a pleasant sabbatical into a nightmare -- Faith discovers a diary, written in 1946 and hidden in the attic, that reveals an unspeakable horror. Suddenly dark secrets seem to permeate every room. And with Richard guarding strange secrets of his own, Faith is soon caught up in solving more than one troubling mystery ... with a murderer lurking a little too close to home.
[Published 27 April 2004, 252 pages]
The Body in the Snowdrift [15]
Caterer Faith Fairchild has a bad feeling about her father-in-law's decision to celebrate his seventieth birthday with a family reunion ski week at the Pine Slopes resort in Vermont -- the Fairchilds' favorite getaway since Faith's husband, the Reverend Thomas Fairchild, was a toddler. At first her unease seems unfounded -- until Faith comes across a corpse on one of the cross-country trails, the apparent victim of a heart attack.
Then one catastrophe follows another: the mysterious disappearance of the Pine Slopes' master chef, a malicious prank at the sports center, a break-in at the Fairchild condo, the sabotage of a chairlift. And when a fatal "accident" with the snow-making machines stains the slopes blood red, Faith realizes she'll have to work fast to solve a murderous puzzle -- because suddenly not only are the reunion and the beloved resort's future in jeopardy . . . but Faith's life is as well.
[Published 26 April 2005, 323 pages]
The Body in the Ivy [16]
In this homage to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Faith Fairchild is asked to cater a very small, very private college reunion on an isolated New England island—an event that could be her dream job. But when she discovers the true reason for the get-together, not even the spectacular ocean views can keep it from turning into a nightmare. Thirty years ago, bestselling suspense writer Barbara Bailey Bishop lost her twin sister in a tower fall deemed a suicide. But Barbara is convinced that Hélène did not die by her own hand, and she's trapped Hélène's former classmates—her prime suspects—at her home with no phone lines, no cell reception, and no means of escape.
One by one, the alumnae fall prey to a madwoman. A disturbed sister's revenge . . . or a former coed's coverup? Faith must quickly unlock the secrets of Hélène's last night if she wants to leave the island alive.
[Published 31 October 2006, 352 pages]
The Body in the Gallery [17]
Faith's catering business has been slow with the downturn of the economy, so when her friend Patsy Avery proposes that she take over the café at Aleford's Ganley Art Museum, it seems like a not-to-be-missed opportunity. And Patsy has an ulterior motive—she discovers that the Romare Bearden piece she lent the museum has been switched with a fake and wants Faith to snoop around to find the culprit.
Life at the museum doesn't stay calm for long and Faith is soon enmeshed in the Ganley's murky past and present as she struggles to make connections among apparently disparate items: the fake Bearden, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, and a Jane Doe corpse that turns up as an unintended part of an art installation. At home, son Ben, now in the hell known as middle school, becomes involved in a cyberbullying escapade and husband Tom wants his wife to morph into June Cleaver.
Her investigation takes Faith into Boston's art scene and historic Beacon Hill, as well as into the lives behind the façade of the Ganley's very proper board of trustees. She is at her wit's—and almost dead—end, as the killer strikes again, and again.
[Published 22 April 2008, 336 pages]
The Body in the Sleigh [18]
Caterer and minister’s wife Faith Fairchild is back to solve her eighteenth deadly mystery in The Body in the Sleigh—the latest perfect puzzler in author Katherine Hall Page’s multiple Agatha Award-winning series. Set on Sanpere Island in Maine’s Penobscot Bay, this atmospheric holiday whodunit is chock-full of suspense, surprises, real heart, and small miracles. And, as always, the mystery comes with recipes for delectable holiday treats from Faith Fairchild’s kitchen. [Published 13 October 2009, 352 pages]
The Body in the Gazebo [19]
"I have to tell you something . . . something that happened a long time ago." When Ursula Lyman Rowe speaks these words to Faith Fairchild from her sickbed in Aleford, Massachusetts, Faith has no idea what lies in store for her.
It all starts when Ursula's daughter, Pix Miller, Faith's best friend and neighbor, reluctantly leaves town for her son's wedding preparations. Pix knows that Faith and her husband, the Reverend Thomas Fairchild, will keep an eye on the slowly recovering Ursula. What she and Faith don't know is that the tale Ursula spins over the course of several weeks will reveal an unsolved crime dating back to 1929 and the Great Depression.
Meanwhile, more current mysteries are brewing. The discretionary fund at the church has been pilfered and the Reverend Fairchild is the only person with access to it. As rumors spread through town, Faith must clear her husband's name before it's irreparably damaged. And when Pix meets her in-laws-to-be for the first time, she's in for the surprise of her life....
A moving, suspenseful tale, The Body in the Gazebo is an evocative journey into the past, where truth hangs suspended by the threads of one woman's memory—and the present-day consequences of that truth prove to be devastating.
[Published 31 March 2011, 368 pages]
The Body in the Boudoir [20]
It's 1990, and Faith Sibley is a single young woman leading a glamorous life in New York City. She has good friends, a cozy apartment, and her own flourishing catering business, Have Faith. Then, at a catering event, she meets the handsome, charming Reverend Thomas Fairchild. A daughter and granddaughter of clergymen, Faith has sworn to avoid a parish's fishbowl existence. But it's love at first sight, and before she knows it her life is changing drastically.
To begin with, she's beckoned north to chilly New England to visit her future residence and prospective in-laws, not all of whom welcome her with open arms. Thankfully, back home she has her adoring great-uncle Sky to rely on, even if his much younger wife has always struck Faith as slightly odd. For the ceremony Uncle Sky has offered up the use of his mansion on Long Island, which would be the perfect location if only the brickwork wasn't suspiciously falling off the roof.
Her path to the altar is made even rockier when Faith faces two other baffling mysteries. Her new assistant, Francesca, appears to be hiding a family secret with roots in Italy. Then Faith's sister, Hope, becomes a target. Who could be plotting to derail her high-stakes financial career?
In spite of being overwhelmed by her decision to leave her home in the Big Apple and the multitude of tasks involved in getting married, Faith has no doubts about being married to her beloved Tom. But someone out there is dead set on making sure that she doesn't reach the altar. Before it's too late, she needs to figure out who is trying to sabotage the wedding—by eliminating the bride!
[Published 1 May 2012, 352 pages]
The Body in the Piazza [21]
Faith Fairchild and her husband are celebrating a big anniversary with a trip to Italy, filled with exquisite indulgences—the art, the Chianti, the food, the Ferragamos! After a weekend in Rome, they'll travel to Tuscany, where Faith's former assistant Francesca has opened a cooking school.
But, along with pecorino, panna cotta, and prosecco, it looks like murder and mayhem are also on the menu! On their fist night in the Eternal City, the Fairchilds stumble upon a dying man in the Piazza Farnese. Mysterious characters from Rome resurface in Tuscany. And somebody is intent on sabotaging Francesca's new business. It's up to Faith to put everything right—and still whip up a mean Spaghetti a la Foriana, of course!
[Published 1 April 2013, 352 pages]
The Body in the Birches [22]
At home on Sanpere Island, Maine, caterer and amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild discovers that real estate can be murder, especially when it’s all in the family, in this twenty-second book in the popular mystery series.
The Fourth of July is one of the hottest on record and even the breeze off Penobscot Bay can’t seem to cool things down for Faith Fairchild and the rest of the folks on Sanpere Island. But the fireworks are just beginning. After the celebrations are over, Faith discovers a body in the woods near The Birches, an early twentieth-century “cottage.”
The body is identified as The Birches’ housekeeper, who seems to have succumbed to a heart attack. The death is only one of the dramatic events upending the historic house. A family gathering has been called to decide who will inherit the much loved, and very valuable, estate that has been in the Proctor family for generations. With this much money involved, it’s just a matter of time before trouble arises.
Faith is juggling her own family problems. Her teenage son, Ben, has started a new job as a dishwasher at The Laughing Gull Lodge—learning things that could land him in very hot water. And her daughter Amy is worried about her new friend, Daisy Proctor. Daisy is terrified—convinced that someone is trying to eliminate her mother from getting a share of The Birches. To protect her children, Faith has to find a possible murderer—before he strikes too close to her own home.
[Published 12 May 2015, 261 pages]
The Body in the Wardrobe [23]
Minster’s wife, caterer, and part-time sleuth Faith Fairchild pairs up with Sophie Maxwell, last seen in Body in the Birches and now a newlywed living in historic Savannah, Georgia, where Sophie crosses paths with murder. Another delightful entry in the beloved mystery series, complete with delectable recipes.
Attorney Sophie Maxwell has come to Savannah to be with her new husband, Will. But nothing throws cold water on a hot relationship faster than a dead body. Worse for Sophie, no one believes the body she knows she saw is real. Will is spending an awful lot of time in Atlanta on a case he claims is urgent, and she’s been tasked with house hunting for them with his former sweetheart, who Sophie can’t help but suspect wishes Sophie would return to her Yankee roots!
Fortunately, Sophie has a good friend in Faith Fairchild. With teenage Amy being bullied by mean girls and husband Tom contemplating a major life change that will affect all the Fairchilds, Faith is eager for distraction in the form of some sleuthing. In between discussions of newlywed agita, surprising Savannah customs and, of course, fabulous low country food, Faith and Sophie will pair up to unmask a killer! [Published 26 April 2016, 256 pages]
Small Plates: Short Fiction
Agatha Award winner Katherine Hall Page presents a book of short stories featuring her famed heroine Faith Fairchild.
For years, Katherine Hall Page has delighted readers with her Faith Fairchild series, each book like a delicious, satisfying meal. Now, Page has whipped up a tasty collection of appetizing bites.
In “The Body in the Dunes,” Faith’s vacation offers more excitement than she and her husband bargained for when a terrified woman knocks on their hotel room door looking to hide from her husband. A case hits close to home in “The Proof is Always in the Pudding,” when Faith investigates a generations-old superstition that has been passed down in her husband’s family. Faith and her sister, Hope, counsel a bride-to-be suffering a number of alarming “accidents” before the big day in “Across the Pond.” In “Sliced,” Faith switches from contestant to detective when a killer reality television cooking competition turns deadly.
Small Plates also includes some irresistible standalone treats, including the Agatha Award–winning “The Would-Be Widower,” about a husband who longs to be rid of his wife, and “Hiding Places” in which a young wife’s new husband may not be all that he appears.
These stories and more will entice Faith Fairchild fans and new readers alike. Filled with the charm, wit, and the appeal of her beloved novels, Small Plates is a feast for every lover of traditional mysteries.
[Published 27 May 2014, 242 pages]
About the Author
Katherine Hall Page is the author of twenty-three previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery. The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story "The Would-Be Widower."
The recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic, she has been nominated for the Edgar Award, the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and the Macavity Award.
She lives in Massachusetts, and Maine, with her husband.
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1 comment:
I can't believe that this is the first book read by this author. I have been missing out!
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