The Bohemian Murders
Read The Bohemian Murders Online
Authors: Dianne Day
“Thrill to the third in this exciting series featuring the liberated Fremont at her bravest.… This knockout setting draws you in like no other. THE BOHEMIAN MURDERS conjures up the murkiest mystery—you can just hear the waves and smell the fog. Bravo.”
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Mystery Lovers Bookshop News
“A plucky heroine, a darkly handsome suitor in the wings, and a glimpse back into history all add to the charms this series has to offer.”
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Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
“Light, entertaining and ever-so-slightly racy, THE BOHEMIAN MURDERS is perfect summer reading.”
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Wisconsin State Journal
“An attractive and involving historical.”
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Library Journal
“Fast-paced machinations keep the reader turning page after page with anticipation.”
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Carmel Pine Cone
“By the third book in a new series, most new sleuths tend to flounder. Not that plucky Bostonian Caroline Fremont Jones … The strong-minded Fremont surrenders neither her independence nor her intelligence.… This liberated woman has come too far ever to go back.”
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The New York Times Book Review
FIRE AND FOG
“If you think the last thing the world needs is another spunky female sleuth, you have yet to make the acquaintance of the irrepressible Fremont Jones.”
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San Fancisco Chronicle
“The strong-willed, intelligent Jones shines, whether she’s helping her friend, fending off suitors or fleeing the clutches of ninja smugglers.”
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Publishers Weekly
“A winner.”
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Monterey Herald
“Day’s decorous, spirited heroine is as charming as ever as she picks her way through a world of rubble where every acquaintance could be a killer.”
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Kirkus Reviews
“One of the best books of 1996 … showcases Dianne Day’s incredible storytelling abilities.”
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Mostly Murder
“Great fun.”
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Nashville Banner
“An attention catcher … you won’t put the book down in a hurry.”
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The Times & Democrat
“A distinctive and appealing voice.”
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Library Journal
“It’s Day’s light and romantic touch with her spunky heroine and the men in her life that makes this series sparkle.… A delightful period mystery.”
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Booklist
“Excellent, involving tale.”
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Bookwatch
THE STRANGE FILES OF FREMONT JONES
“Dianne Day provides a delightful heroine and a lively, twisty, intriguing mystery.”
—Carolyn G. Hart
“Wonderfully fresh … as much a quirky, turn-of-the-century character study, a love letter to a city, as it is a traditional romance/whodunit.”
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Chicago Tribune
“Chilling … Day won’t disappoint even the hard-core suspense addict.”
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Carmel Pine Cone
“Foggy period atmosphere, a dash of dangerous romance and several rousingly good-natured action scenes.”
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Star Tribune,
Minneapolis
“Jones is instantly captivating, a spunky young woman who wants to make her own way and is more than capable of doing so.… Engaging.”
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Winston-Salem Journal
“A fascinating novel.”
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Virginian-Pilot
“[Fremont Jones] could be the Victorian ancestor of contemporary sleuth Kinsey Milhone. An enjoyable introduction to a new series.”
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Castro Valley Forum
“Dianne Day has created a delightful character in Fremont Jones.… A joyful romp through the past.”
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Mostly Murder
“A fine, buoyant literary style … A spirited, likable heroine.”
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Kirkus Reviews
“An enchanting book … an extraordinary adventure and a delightful read.”
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Library Journal
This edition contains the complete text of the original hardcover edition.
not one word has been omitted.
T
HE
B
OHEMIAN
M
URDERS
A Bantam Crime Line Book / published by arrangement with Doubleday
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Doubleday hardcover edition published July 1997
Bantam paperback edition / March 1998
Crime Line and the portrayal of a boxed “cl” are trademarks of
Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1997 by Dianne Day.
Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 96-40172
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Doubleday
eISBN: 978-0-307-41826-5
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Random House, Inc., New York, New York.
v3.1
While I have attempted to capture
the spirit and flavor of historic
Carmel, Pacific Grove and what is
now Pebble Beach, no characters
in this book are based on people
who actually lived there in the
early part of this century. There
is one exception: The character
Hettie Houck was inspired by
Emily Fish, who was keeper of
the Point Pinos Light from
1893 to 1914.
—
D. D.
KEEPER’S LOG
January 9
,
1907
Wind: SW, light gusting to moderate Weather: Cool, some clouds after morning fog Comments: Moderate swells on bay. Whale migration beginning, one spouter spotted, boat out of Monterey Whaling Station observed in pursuit.
[signed]Fremont Jones, Deputy
for Henrietta Houck
Keeper, Point Pinos Light
I
suppose my luck ran out. Or perhaps it was only that I made a mistake, or two, or three. Nothing really disastrous—I have a different, one might say heightened, definition of disaster since last year’s Great Earthquake and the fire that followed. Nevertheless my recent mistakes have caused me heartache and embarrassment, and a good deal of inconvenience, not to mention insecurity.
Indeed sometimes I look around me in this beautiful yet alien place and wonder what in the world I am doing here.
I do a good bit of looking around because that is part of my job: I make observations and keep a log; I also keep accounts and order supplies and oversee the man who tends the property. I do these things in my capacity as deputy keeper (status: temporary) of the Point Pinos Lighthouse. I tell myself that I am fortunate to have this job for six months, and therefore my luck cannot really have run out—that is what I tell myself.
The lighthouse at Point Pinos is nothing like a certain other lighthouse I visited a couple of years ago, to the north of San Francisco. For one thing, this is in the opposite direction, south, by more than a hundred miles, and for another, it is not the least threatening in appearance or in atmosphere. This lighthouse looks like a Cape Cod cottage with a tower and lantern stuck onto its roof like an afterthought. Point Pinos is the southern headland of Monterey Bay, acres of dunes and scrub rolling down to a rocky, granite coastline, surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth by thick forest a mile deep. Beyond that forest is the prosperous little town of Pacific Grove; in the other direction, some three miles as the crow flies but farther by road and beyond another forest, is a tiny, rustic village called Carmel-by-the-Sea. If more felicitous surroundings exist anywhere on earth, I have not seen them. Yet I am quite perverse: Often I am discontented and wish I were somewhere else.
I have not given up typewriting; in fact I have a brand-new Royal typewriter, which, like its predecessor, is my most prized possession. However I have had difficulty, due to the aforementioned mistakes, in getting my business started in this new place. I tell myself it will happen, nothing is impossible—that is what I tell myself.
I was telling myself something of the sort around four o’clock in the afternoon of January 9, 1907, as I gazed idly out the watch-room window. The watch room is located at the base of the lantern tower, so it is round and rather small but pleasant enough, particularly considering the panoramic view. Hettie (short for Henrietta)
Houck, the real keeper of the light, used the watch room as a sort of office and so I do the same.