Maid of Murder (Five Star First Edition Mystery) [Hardcover]

Amanda Flower (Author)

Book Description

Series: Five Star First Edition Mystery | Publication Date: June 16, 2010

2010 Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel

India Hayes, a college librarian and reluctant bridesmaid, is thrown into the role of amateur sleuth as she hunts down the person who murdered her childhood friend and framed her brother for the crime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flower's breezy debut introduces a quirky heroine—India Hayes, a librarian at Martin College in Stripling, Ohio, who's also an artist. India agrees, yet again, to be a bridesmaid, this time for her childhood friend, Olivia Blocken, for whom her brother, Mark, an assistant professor at Martin, still carries a torch. After Olivia left Stripling for college elsewhere, Mark suffered a breakdown and buried himself in mathematics. Not wanting to upset Mark, India doesn't tell him she's a bridesmaid in his lost love's wedding. When someone pushes Olivia to her death in the college fountain and Mark becomes the most likely murder suspect, India turns amateur sleuth in an effort to prove her brother's innocence. Warring cats and distinctive characters, like India's everything Irish landlady and her bizarre '60s activist parents, will appeal to cozy fans. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

India Hayes is a lot of things . . . starving artist who pays the rent as a college librarian, daughter of liberal activists, sister of an emotional mathematician, tenant of a landlady who has kissed the Blarney Stone one too many times, and a bridesmaid six times over. But she's about to step into the most challenging role of her life: amateur sleuth.

Childhood friend and now knockout beauty, Olivia Blocken is back in town to wed her bodybuilder fianc with India a reluctant attendant . . . not just because the bridesmaid's dress is a hideous mess, but because she's betraying her brother. Mark still carries a torch for the bride who once broke his heart and sent his life into a tailspin.

When Olivia turns up dead in the Martin College fountain and the evidence points to Mark, India must unmask the real culprit while juggling a furious and grieving Mother of the Bride, an annoyingly beautiful Maid of Honor, a set of hippie-generation parents, the police detective who once dated her sister and is showing a marked liking for her, and a provost itching to fire someone, anyone--maybe even a smart-mouthed librarian.

India's investigation leads her on a journey through childhood memories that she'd much rather have left in the schoolyard, but to avoid becoming the next victim, it is a path she must follow.

Maid of Murder is a fast-paced, laugh-out-loud mystery set in an amusing world of academia. Readers will fall in love with India Hayes's fierce loyalty and wit.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 282 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (June 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594148643
• ISBN-13: 978-1594148644
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,271,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amanda Flower, an Agatha-nominated mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she'd found her calling of making people laugh with her words. Her debut mystery, Maid of Murder, was a 2010 Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel and the first in a series featuring amateur sleuth India Hayes. In July 2012, Amanda will debuting her second mystery series, the Appleseed Creek Mystery Series, which is set in Ohio's Amish country. In addition to being a mystery author, Amanda is an academic librarian for a small college near Cleveland. Visit her online at www.amandaflower.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful cozy mystery, June 28, 2010

By 

M. Lignor (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maid of Murder (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

A delightful cozy mystery filled with humor and set in a small college town where, similar to Cheers, everybody knows your name.

Our charming heroine, India Hayes, is a librarian at a college and an aspiring artist, who pays her rent on a small apartment rather than live with her parents. Mom is an ordained minister and Dad, now in a wheelchair because of an accident are former tree huggers who still like to be very politically active when a cause comes up. India, in a weak moment, agrees to be a bridesmaid at her former best friend Olivia's wedding. Said friend was a neighbor of India's family when the girls were young and India's brother Mark had a huge crush on Olivia which turned into an obsession and Mark had a breakdown because of it. He is now working at the same college as India as a Mathematics professor. India is upset because she feels that she is betraying her brother by being in this wedding but, Olivia had been her best friend so she is really between a rock and a hard place.

Sadly, Olivia turns up in a fountain at the college near Mark's office. She is taken to the hospital but passes away from her injuries. All evidence points to Mark as he is the one who pulled her out of the fountain and is a basket case because she had come to the college to talk to him. India works very hard to prove her brother's innocence with interference from her landlady, who is very Irish and has leprechauns all over the place, the very social
mother-of-the bride, a very annoying, but beautiful Maid of Honor, her parents and a police detective who had once dated her older sister. This great cast of characters are a help and a hindrance to India as she plows forward into uncharted territory to help her brother.

This book is so charming. The story and characters are believable even though a little quirky, and goes a long way to prove the adage "No good deed ever goes unpunished." I read it in one sitting and can hardly wait to see what India's next adventure will be. This is a debut novel and I wish the author much luck.

Mary Lignor, reviewer for [...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great summer read!, July 5, 2010

By 

Kari Russo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maid of Murder (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

I am a somewhat avid reader who often gets lost in books. I started reading this novel and instantly fell in love with its charm and believable characters and detailed setting that really gives you a feeling for both life in a small town, and life in North East Ohio. The author has painstakingly laid out a vision, and intriguing plot. I was convinced I had figured out the "whodunnit" by chapter 28, but was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong.

This book has great life, and is an easy and entertaining read - perfect for a weekend at the beach, or even a day in a hammock... it's light easy humor makes you feel connected with each character.

I am very much looking forward to future publications by author Amanda Flower.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful First Book in New Series, October 9, 2010

By 

valerie d. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maid of Murder (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent first book in a new series. I can totally relate to India and I love her sense of humor! I love the reality of this book because it proves that not all families are cookie cutter images other authors make readers imagine them to be. I predict that this will be a great series! Highly recommended!!