Icing Ivy

"Engaging!...Jane proves a shrewd sleuth."—Publishers Weekly

"For fans of feline cozies."—Library Journal

One of the students at Jane’s writers’ retreat gets an A in murder.

Jane Stuart and Ivy Benson were once best friends. Ever since Ivy's daughter Marlene was murdered, though, things have been rocky. To patch up their friendship, Jane invites Ivy to the writer’s retreat Jane organized. Jane and Ivy plan to spend the wintry week relaxing and drinking cocoa, just like old times!

Off-season Mt. Munsee Lodge is a mountain-top hotel which is perfect for relaxing and having fun. But Ivy brings Johnny, her new man, who turns out to be on the run. To Ivy’s displeasure, Johnny swoons over one of Jane's students, Carla, a waitress with little promise as a writer but great potential as a home wrecker. Johnny figures the retreat makes the perfect getaway, but what he’s running away from soon appears. And when an unexpected blizzard leaves everyone marooned in the snow, there's no chance for escape.

Out for a walk the next day, Jane finds her old friend Ivy on the snowy trail—dead. Ivy has been stabbed with an ice pick. Johnny's the likeliest suspect, but he’s vanished. Anyway, Jane knows Johnny’s not the one who iced Ivy. He has no motive. The killer is someone who knows a lot more about murder than writing.

But who? The snow melts, giving up clue after clue. Jane and her trusted tortie Winky investigate every lead and soon uncover Ivy’s dark secrets.

Writing can be murder, every writer knows that! Before this killer strikes again, Jane and Winky must find the one who may not know much about plot structure, but sure knows murder—cold.

This edition contains an excerpt from TOASTING TINA by Evan Marshall.

3.67 average rating all editions, 63 ratings, 7 reviews, added by 130 people, 31 to-reads, 90% of the people like it–Goodreads

5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)–Amazon

"Jane Stuart is a Jane Marple for the millennium."—Kensington Publishing

"Miss Marple Lite."—Kirkus Reviews

Evan Marshall is president of The Evan Marshall Agency and author of The Marshall Plan® For Novel Writing (Writer’s Digest, 1998), an international bestseller on novel writing. He is the author of 10 commercially published mysteries, including Manhattan Mysteries and Jane & Winky series, named “Miss Marple Lite” by Kirkus Reviews. His books appeal to fans of Janet Evanovich, Lilian Jackson Braun, Agatha Christie and Alexander McCall Smith. You can reach him at evan@evanmarshallagency.com.