Judith Alguire - Rudley 04 - Peril at the Pleasant (23 page)

Judith Alguire’s previous novels include
Pleasantly Dead,
The Pumpkin Murders
and
A Most Unpleasant Wedding
, the first three books of the Rudley Mysteries, as well as
All Out
and
Iced
, both of which explored the complex relationships of sportswomen on and off the playing field. Her short stories, articles and essays have also appeared in such publications as
The Malahat Review
and
Harrowsmith
, and she is a past member of the editorial board of the
Kingston Whig-Standard
. A graduate of Queen’s University, she has recently retired from nursing.

“Alguire is clearly of the sly and cosy old-school British detective fiction à la Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. And that’s a venerable genre of mystery writing.”

— Winnipeg Free Press

“If a British-style ‘cosy’ mystery usually resembles a stroll through the dark side of a park,
The Pumpkin Murders
is a 100-yard dash — with attitude. Autumn in Ontario cottage country: scarlet colours, crisp evenings and morning frost — with a female impersonator on the run and some very annoyed drug dealers. More than just pumpkins get smashed at Pleasant Inn this Halloween. The same group of characters from Alguire’s first mystery is back, including the owners of Pleasant Inn, cops whose whistles are short of a full blast, vintage card-sharp aunties and murder victims. Snappish dialogue fuels the pace with good one-liners spicing up the tone and revealing a variety of gaudy characters and quaint settings.
The Pumpkin Murders
is a cheery resurgence of the British standby — in Canadian style.”

— Don Graves, The Hamilton Spectator

ISBN 978-18987109-37-3

Also available as an eBook

ISBN 978-18987109-68-7

Trevor and Margaret Rudley have had their share of misfortunes at The Pleasant Inn, the cherished Ontario cottage-country hotel they’ve owned for twenty-five years. There have been boating accidents, accidental poisonings, and then there was that unfortunate ski-lift incident. But this year their hopes are high for the summer season. However, barely a week goes by before their hopes are dashed. There’s a dead body making a nuisance of itself in the wine cellar, and it’s nobody the Rudleys know.

The guests at The Pleasant Inn, a wealthy and eccentric lot, are dying for distraction, and one of them, Miss Miller, sets out to solve the case of the deceased, relying on wild speculation, huge leaps of logic, and the assistance of her great admirer, Edward Simpson, who is too smitten to dissuade her from her adventure in detection. Challenging her in the race to resolution is the disciplined Detective Brisbois, whose deep-rooted insecurities about his style and status are aroused by the hotel guests’ careless assumption of privilege. When Brisbois stumbles into peril of his own, the intrepid Miss Miller is the only one left who can solve the crime.

ISBN 978-18987109-45-8

Also available as an eBook

ISBN 978-18987109-69-4

Autumn returns to Ontario cottage country. Leaves redden. Pumpkins ripen. And Trevor and Margaret Rudley, proprietors of the Pleasant Inn, expect nothing more than a few Halloween high jinks to punctuate the mellow ambiance of their much-loved hostelry. However, the frost is barely on the pumpkin when Gerald, a female-impersonator friend of the Pleasant’s esteemed cook Gregoire, turns up, dragging his very frightened friend Adolph behind. After witnessing a drug deal in Montreal, they’re on the lam, hoping to blend into the Pleasant’s pleasant rhythms until the heat is off. Alas, they hope in vain.

As the bodies pile up, the intrepid Elizabeth Miller jumps into the fray, fully armed with her peculiar intuition, her maddening charm, and her devoted swain, Edward Simpson, who proves a useful fellow behind the wheel of a car. Detective Michel Brisbois, in the past bested by Miss Miller in rooting out unpleasantness at the Pleasant, finds himself racing — quite literally — to keep up with his amateur challenger. But when the chips are down — as they inevitably are — it’s the laziest creature on earth who ends up saving the day for the kindly and rather eccentric folk of Ontario’s most peculiar country hotel.

ISBN 978-18987109-99-1

Also available as an eBook

ISBN 978-1927426-07-4

Another summer, and The Pleasant Inn, nestled in beautiful Ontario cottage country, is filled to capacity. This season is especially exciting, as perennial guests Miss Miller and her long-time admirer Mr. Simpson have chosen to marry at the Inn. The guests and staff are clamouring to be involved, particularly Bonnie Lawrence, a young wife adrift while her husband is off fishing. Margaret and Trevor Rudley are delighted to host the wedding, and barring Mrs. Lawrence’s obsessive interfering, everything is set to go off without a hitch.

But when a neighbour is found dead in the woods behind the inn, the possibility of a joyous occasion starts looking distinctly less likely. Detective Michel Brisbois, who is heading up the case, is back on the Pleasant Inn’s doorstep. Rudley barely tolerates the presence of the police, who are once again on site interviewing the guests as possible suspects. Even though she’s prenuptially preoccupied, the fearless Miss Miller refuses to be left out from solving yet another murder at The Pleasant…much to her own peril.