Winter Witness - (A Batavia-On-Hudson Mystery) by Tina Debellegarde (Paperback)

About the Book

"When a beloved nun is murdered in a sleepy Catskill Mountain town, a grieving young widow finds herself at the center of the turmoil. Bianca St. Denis is searching for a job and seeking acceptance in her new home of Batavia-on-Hudson. Agatha Miller, the nun's closest friend and the ailing local historian everyone loves to hate, shares her painful personal history and long-buried village secrets with Bianca. Armed with this knowledge, Bianca unravels the mysteries surrounding the death while dealing with the suspicions of her eccentric neighbors. However, Bianca's meddling complicates the sheriff's investigation as well as his marriage. Can Sheriff Mike Riley escape his painful past in a town where murder and infighting over a new casino vie for his attention? Danger stalks Bianca as she gets closer to the truth. Can the sheriff solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? Can the town heal its wounds once the truth has been uncovered?"--Back cover.

Book Synopsis

"Intelligent, touching, wise and evocative - fans of Louise Penny will adore this!Winter Witness is a wonderful book." Hank Phillippi Ryan USA Today Bestselling author of THE FIRST TO LIE &Agatha and Anthony Award Winner

When a beloved nun is murdered in a sleepy Catskill Mountain town, a grieving young widow finds herself at the center of the turmoil. Bianca St. Denis is searching for a job and seeking acceptance in her new home of Batavia-on-Hudson. Agatha Miller, the nun's closest friend and the ailing local historian everyone loves to hate, shares her painful personal history and long-buried village secrets with Bianca. Armed with this knowledge, Bianca unravels the mysteries surrounding the death while dealing with the suspicions of her eccentric neighbors.

However, Bianca's meddling complicates the sheriff's investigation as well as his marriage. Can Sheriff Mike Riley escape his painful past in a town where murder and infighting over a new casino vie for his attention?

Danger stalks Bianca as she gets closer to the truth. Can the sheriff solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? Can the town heal its wounds once the truth has been uncovered?

Review Quotes

"In Winter Witness, Tina deBellegarde gives us an evocative debut mystery so lush you'll believe you're strolling the streets of Batavia-on-Hudson, battling the brutal winter's chill, even inhaling the aroma of the town bakery's wares. Through Bianca St. Denis's eyes, we gain an outsider's perspective on the quirks and secrets of a village rife with history and deception, as well as a glimpse into her own loss and heartbreak." - Annette Dashofy, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Agatha-nominated Zoe Chambers Mysteries

"Richly atmospheric, Winter Witness reminds us of the high cost of family secrets - and the even higher cost of those secrets being revealed." - Liz Milliron, author of The Laurel Highlands Mysteries and The Home Front Mysteries

"Beautifully written and evocative, Winter Witness explores the comforts and quirky charms of small-town life that have drawn so many urban dwellers to the slower rhythms of the Hudson Valley. But Winter Witness is far more than a simple cozy mystery; it is also a sensitive and nuanced examination of the nature of compassion, loss, and community...Bianca and Mike make a believable and engaging investigative team, with a balance of complementary strengths and vulnerabilities that never descend into cliché. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them, along with the other citizens of Batavia-on-Hudson, in the future." - Erica Obey, author of The Curse of the Braddock Brides and The Horseman's Word

"Winter Witness is a sly and subtle mystery, full of nuanced observations of life in a small town. Tina deBellegarde's debut novel reveals a masterful understanding of grief, of feeling stuck and lost in life, and the price of keeping secrets. Her Bianca St. Denis is the compassionate outsider who has a journalist's eye for detail and a writer's understanding of human weakness. Watch the mystery be solved and the clues fall into place, the way the lid of a box clicks closed. You'll want the next installment." - Gabriel Valjan, Agatha and Anthony-nominated author of The Naming Game.  

"Tina deBellegarde's Winter Witness is an accomplished debut, offering well-crafted characters and a setting that pulls the reader in. The story grabbed me right at the beginning and kept me turning the pages all the way through to a satisfying conclusion. I'm looking forward to the next installment in this series." - Carol Pouliot, Author of The Blackwell and Watson Time-Travel Mysteries.