The Summer of Love and Death - (A Ford Family Mystery) by Marcy McCreary (Paperback)

About the Book

Short Summary: Detective Susan Ford is called to a crime scene that is eerily similar to a 1969 serial killer case that her father Will Ford had worked as a detective. When Susan discovers the old case files, Will's memories start trickling back, and Susan must narrow down the pool of suspects before the killer strikes again.

Book Synopsis

"An addictive and entertaining ride!" --Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author

"Fans of Agatha Christie will die for this smart, twisty tale . . ." --Susan Walter, bestselling author of Good as Dead and Lie by the Pool

The summer of '69: memorable for some, murder for others.

Detective Susan Ford and her new partner, Detective Jack Tomelli, are called to a crime scene at the local summer stock theater where they find the director of Murder on the Orient Express gruesomely murdered--naked, face caked in makeup, pillow at his feet, wrists and ankles bound by rope. When Susan describes the murder to her dad, retired detective Will Ford, he recognizes the MO of a 1969 serial killer . . . a case he worked fifty years ago.

Will remembers a lot of things about that summer--the Woodstock Festival, the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Miracle Mets--yet he is fuzzy on the details of the decades-old case. But when Susan and Jack discover the old case files, his memories start trickling back. And with each old and new clue, Susan, Jack, and Will must narrow down the pool of suspects before the killer strikes again.

For readers who enjoy mysteries by Richard Osman, Stacy Willingham, Charlie Donlea, Benjamin Stevenson, and Shari Lapena.

Review Quotes

"A compelling mystery that unfolds in two skillfully woven parallel narratives. McCreary pairs a haunting meditation on intergenerational trauma with an evocative rendering of that famous Summer of Love to deliver a suspenseful and deeply satisfying read." --Lori Robbins, author of Murder in Fourth Position

"An old case has repercussions on a new copycat killing in this excellent police procedural. With juicy twists, an engaging cast, and an intriguing case that's impossible to predict, The Summer of Love and Death is everything I want in a mystery. An addictive and entertaining ride!" --Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author

"Fans of Agatha Christie will die for this smart, twisty tale of two parallel murders. Intricately plotted, with a motley cast of characters and dialogue that pops, this is one to savor." --Susan Walter, bestselling author of Good as Dead and Lie by the Pool

"In the summer of 1969, there was peace and love--but also a serial killer committing bizarre murders. When a copycat killing occurs at the local summer stock theatre, detective Susan Ford must call on her father's memory of his 1969 investigation to help her solve the present-day murder. The Summer of Love and Death offers page-turning suspense of how the legacy of murder can continue, leaving more than death in its wake." --Nina Wachsman, author of The Courtesan's Secret

"Marcy McCreary's The Summer of Love and Death is a fiendishly smart modern who-dunnit with clever characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing . . . McCreary is a gifted writer who has created a page-turning mystery that will keep you up all night--then just when you think you've figured it out-you discover how wrong you are. Bravo!" --Elise Hart Kipness, author of Lights Out

"McCreary unspools a lot of threads in The Summer of Love and Death, then masterfully weaves them all together atop the Ford family's compelling dynamic for an ending you won't see coming. It's a fun ride that kept me guessing the whole time!" --Tony Wirt, bestselling author of Just Stay Away

"Vividly set in the Catskills, The Summer of Love and Death is excellent fun, chock full of murder, theater, and a diverse and devious cast of suspects. Detective Susan Ford is smart and sensitive, and is a delight to follow as she navigates the intricacies of her case and her relationships with her detective father, her fiancée, her new--and younger--partner, and, most poignantly, her aging mother." --Emilya Naymark, author of Behind the Lie

About the Author

Marcy McCreary is the author of the Ford Family Mystery series: The Summer of Love and Death, The Murder of Madison Garcia, winner of the Voice Arts Award for best audiobook in the mystery category, and The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon, which was a finalist for a Silver Falchion Award for Best Investigator Mystery. Her essays about crime fiction have appeared in Mystery & Suspense, Criminal Element, Women Writers/Women's Books, and Mystery Readers Journal. She graduated from The George Washington University with a B.A. in American literature and political science and pursued a career in marketing and communications. She lives in Hull, MA with her husband, Lew.