Roll Over and Play Dead (20 page)
Read Roll Over and Play Dead Online
Authors: Joan Hess
Farberville, Arkansas, is up in arms when the local Green party protests the removal of a copse of trees by having retired schoolteacher Miss Emily Parchester camp in one of the trees, chained to it by the ankle. At the same time, a baby is left on local bookseller Claire Malloy s doorstep. While trying to track down the mother, Claire tries to avoid alerting the local gossips, or the authorities, but she's too late. By the time she finds her, the baby's mother has been arrested for the murder of her own father—developer at the center of the controversy surrounding the trees. Now the only way to rescue the baby's mother—and get poor Miss Emily down from the tree—is for Claire to find out who really killed the developer.
“A winning blend of soft-core feminism, trendy subplots, and a completely irreverent style that characterizes both the series and the sleuth.”
—
Houston Chronicle
“Witty, ironic, and biting…Joan Hess has an unerring comedic instinct.”
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Bookpage
A Claire Malloy Mystery
Professor of Passion
, the smutty new romance from Mildred Twiller—a.k.a. Azalea Twilight—isn’t the kind of book Claire Malloy likes to hawk at her bookstore, but Claire agrees to host a book party for her friend’s trashy tale. After the party, poor Mildred is found dead in her home—strangled with a tightly knotted silk scarf. Now it’s up to Claire to find Mildred’s killer. But who could have hated Mildred with such smoldering passion?
“A cleverly conceived and executed mystery.”
—
Houston Chronicle
“Joan is the patron saint of comic mystery.”
—Sharyn McCrumb
A DIET TO DIE FOR
A REALLY CUTE CORPSE
DEAR MISS DEMEANOR
THE MURDER AT THE MURDER AT THE MIMOSA INN
STRANGLED PROSE
A CONVENTIONAL CORPSE
I would like to thank Deborah Robinson, Susan Latta, and the members of COMBAT for providing me invaluable assistance and information.
ROLL OVER AND PLAY DEAD
Copyright © 1991 by Joan Hess.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 90-29882
ISBN: 978-1-4668-0761-7
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St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
