Death at Breakfast - by Beth Gutcheon (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Still Missing, More Than You Know, and Gossip comes the first entry in a stylish and witty mystery series featuring a pair of unlikely investigators--a shrewd novel of manners with a dark heart of murder at its center, set in small-town New England.

Indulging their pleasure in travel and new experiences, recently retired private school head Maggie Detweiler and her old friend, socialite Hope Babbin, are heading to Maine. The trip--to attend a weeklong master cooking class at the picturesque Victorian-era Oquossoc Mountain Inn--is an experiment to test their compatibility for future expeditions.

Hope and Maggie have barely finished their first aperitifs when the inn's tranquility is shattered by the arrival of Alexander and Lisa Antippas and Lisa's actress sister, Glory. Imperious and rude, these Hollywood one-percenters quickly turn the inn upside-down with their demanding behavior, igniting a flurry of speculation and gossip among staff and guests alike.

But the disruption soon turns deadly. After a suspicious late-night fire is brought under control, Alex's charred body is found in the ashes. Enter the town's deputy sheriff, Buster Babbin, Hope's long-estranged son and Maggie's former student. A man who's finally found his footing in life, Buster needs a win. But he's quickly pushed aside by the "big boys," senior law enforcement and high-powered state's attorneys who swoop in to make a quick arrest.

Maggie knows that Buster has his deficits and his strengths. She also knows that justice does not always prevail--and that the difference between conviction and exoneration too often depends on lazy police work and the ambitions of prosecutors. She knows too, after a lifetime of observing human nature, that you have a great advantage in doing the right thing if you don't care who gets the credit or whom you annoy.

Feeling that justice could use a helping hand--as could the deputy sheriff--Maggie and Hope decide that two women of experience equipped with healthy curiosity, plenty of common sense, and a cheerfully cynical sense of humor have a useful role to play in uncovering the truth.

From the Back Cover

Recently retired school head Maggie Detweiler and her old friend, socialite Hope Babbin, are heading to Maine for a five-day cooking class at the Oquossoc Mountain Inn resort. It is also a thinly veiled excuse to visit Buster, the local deputy sheriff, who is Maggie's former student and Hope's long-estranged son.

The inn's serenity is soon shattered by the arrival of Alexander and Lisa Antippas and Lisa's actress sister, Glory. Loud, demanding, and rude, these Hollywood one-percenters quickly wreak havoc by upsetting the inn's staff, dismaying the other guests, and igniting a flurry of speculation and gossip.

The discord turns deadly when a charred body is found in the ashes after a suspicious late-night fire.

Enter Deputy Babbin, who needs a big win. Maggie knows the justice system can misfire, and that the difference between convicting the wrong person and the right one is too often determined by prejudice, lazy police work, and prosecutors with misplaced ambitions. To give Buster a hand that he isn't sure he wants, Maggie and Hope decide that there is a role here for two smart, curious women with a lot of life experience.

Review Quotes

"I didn't guess the identity of the killer, but then, I never do. You might. But it really seems secondary to the pleasure of watching Beth Gutcheon make her characters dance." - Jesse Kornbluth, HeadButler
Praise for Good-bye and Amen: "Gutcheon's gift is for pure storytelling. . . . Her characters and settings are alive, sparkling with deft touches of period detail; her narrative voice is knowing and wry, exasperated and affectionate." - New York Newsday
Praise for Domestic Pleasures: "Few in America write as well about marriage, divorce, and the family ties, which both unite and torture us all. She's in a league by herself." - Pat Conroy
Praise for Death at Breakfast: "I have been a Beth Gutcheon fan forever, since a smart librarian put Gutcheon's first novel in my hands and said, 'You'll love her.' I do. And now this wonderful addition: a murder mystery, with all of her talents vividly displayed. What could be better: intrigue, murder, a New England inn, food, celebrities, and an endearing local cop that Agatha Christie would envy. Brava, Beth Gutcheon! And thank you." - Elinor Lipman, author of The View From Penthouse B, The Inn at Lake Devine, and Then She Found Me on DEATH AT BREAKFAST
"Is there nothing Beth Gutcheon can't do? Crime drama, ghost story, novel of manners, and now, with Death at Breakfast, sly mystery . . . Everything Beth Gutcheon touches turns into an elixir that says, 'Read Me!'" - Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean and Two if By Sea on DEATH AT BREAKFAST