A Harlequin stealing lawn signs is the kind of thing you expect in a sleepy Hudson Valley town like Morgansburg, NY. But when the Harlequin stabs a guest in the middle of a masked ball, Morgansburg’s annual Jane Austen conference will never be the same.
Would you like a ticket to the dance? You, too, can be a character in my latest Watson & Doyle adventure, The DeCoverley Riddle. (And glad news, you’ll also get the Jane Austen mug, a tin of Staatsburg tea, and signed copies of all of my other novels.)
One bid, and any one of these characters can have your name instead. (I’ve listed them beginning with those likeliest to come to a happy ending.)
Harry Grantley
A “yumalicious” not-quite movie star most famous for playing Mr. Darcy, vampire hunter.
Nick Armitage
For a trivia champion and Mensa-accredited genius, he’s made some remarkably stupid choices. Surely, he’s smart enough not to need the help of some yumalicious vampire hunter.
Mrs. Phelps-Morgan & Mrs. Morgan Phelps
Morgansburg grandes dames and sisters-in-law. Mrs. P-M is a terrifying expert on English country dancing. Mrs. MP knows everything there is to know about Jane Austen. (What a bargain! You get two names for the price of one!)
Yancy Phelps
Millionaire who built Morgansburg’s most famous stately home before the Crash of 1929. Served as one of the legendary “Monuments Men” who hunted Nazi art during WWII. Was he above smuggling stolen goods back to Morgansburg to build a first-class art collection?
Miss Beulah Phelps
Yancy’s impoverished English cousin, who billeted the Monuments Men in her family’s stately home near Bath. What did she know about the painting that was stolen at Yancy’s last masked ball?
Scooter Fleming
Son of Yancy Phelps’ army buddy, he was befriended by Beulah Phelps and served as her private secretary after Yancy died. If anyone can guess the Harlequin’s secrets, it’s Scooter.
Emmett Cooper
Newly elected board president, determined to transform a shambling stately home into a 21st-century arts complex – even if he has to sell off all the collections to do it. In short, not a very nice guy at all. But is he a murderer?
Tad Worth
Editor of the Morgansburg Times and investigative journalist, who is now planning a true crime podcast on Morgansburg’s larcenous Harlequin. Doesn’t sound likely to survive the book, if you ask me.
You don’t need to attend the Soiree to place a bid. You can check it out here — along with a whole bunch of other cool items.
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