Next Door to Murder

April 21, 2008
In Fraser's leisurely sixth Rona Parrish cozy (after 2007's Rogue in Porcelain
), the freelance journalist and her artist husband, Max Allerdyce, are used to knowing little about the tenants who come and go at the four-story Georgian house next door to their own in Marsborough. But when a reserved couple, Barbara and Keith Franks, and their adult daughter, Louise, become their new neighbors, Rona is intrigued to learn from Louise that she has no memory of her prior life in Canada due to an accident. Rona soon discovers that helping Louise reclaim her past is more exciting—and perilous—than her current assignment, writing about a family-owned furniture store for Chiltern Life
magazine. Fraser's cozy goes down with a mild kick, like tea laced with a dash of brandy.

April 1, 2008
Freelance journalist and biographer Rona Parish just cant stay out of dangerous situations. Her last outing resulted in her witnessing a traumatic murder while she researched the owners of a ceramics firm. Shes barely recovered from the ordeal when her editor suggests a nice, safe assignmentprofiling a local furniture merchant. But its not her research on the furniture firm that causes trouble. Its Ronas new next-door neighbors, an elderly couple with a thirtysomething daughter who suffers from a crippling case of amnesia. When Rona befriends the young woman and tries to help her, she has no idea that she will uncover a terrible secret. Set in a British village where everyone knows everyone else, the Rona Parish series perfectly captures everyday life in the small towns of the UK and portrays the sorts of problems and issues that are faced by modern families and career women everywhere. Yet its not just chick lit; theres enough suspense and mayhem to appeal to all but the hardest-boiled mystery fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)