In a midnight wood

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Title:

In a midnight wood

Author:

Hart, Ellen, author.

ISBN:

9781250308443

Edition:

1st ed.

Physical Description:

301 pages ; 22 cm.

Series:

Jane Lawless mystery ;

Subject Term:

Lawless, Jane (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Women private investigators -- Fiction.

Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.

Lesbians -- Fiction.

Cold cases (Criminal investigation) -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Minnesota -- Fiction.

Genre:

Mystery fiction.

Summary:

Minnesota private investigator Jane Lawless is headed to the small town of Castle Rock for a little getaway. She and Cordelia plan to visit an old friend, participate in an arts festival, and look into a cold case that has recently come on Jane's radar-thanks to a podcast Jane is now involved in which looks into Minnesota cold cases. In Castle Rock, a high school senior named Sam went missing in 1999. Everyone thought he ran away, though the town rumor mill has always claimed the father killed him. In present day, within a week of his 20th high school reunion, Sam's remains are found. People who knew Sam, and those around him, will be in town for the much anticipated reunion. It's up to Jane to sort friend from foe, before it's too late. --

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Bayport Public Library	MYSTERY HAR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	MYSTERY HAR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	MYSTERY HAR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	MYSTERY HAR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	MYSTERY HAR	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Beloved heroine Jane Lawless finds that some secrets don't stay buried forever in Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Ellen Hart's In a Midnight Wood , the 27th mystery in this cultishly popular series.

Minnesota private investigator Jane Lawless is headed on a little getaway. She and her best friend, Cordelia Thorn, plan to visit their old friend Emma in her hometown of Castle Lake, while also participating in the small town's local art festival. Between the festival and an upcoming high school reunion for the class of 1999, no one in Castle Lake is quite sure who will make an appearance.

But back in 1999, Emma's boyfriend and Castle Lake high school senior Sam Romilly went missing. Everyone thought he ran away, though the town rumor mill has always claimed his father murdered him. Today, within a week of his class's 20th reunion, Sam's remains are found in someone else's burial plot. Suddenly the case is warming up fast. People who knew Sam--friends and enemies alike--will be in town for the much anticipated reunion. It's up to Jane to sort the innocent from the guilty, before it's too late.

Author Notes

Mystery author Ellen Hart was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in August 1949. She received a B. A. in Theology from the Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. She writes the Jane Lawless and the Sophie Greenway series. Five of the Jane Lawless books have won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery. She has also won the Minnesota Book Award for Best Crime Fiction twice. She currently lives in Minneapolis with her life partner.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

MWA Grand Master Hart's elegantly plotted 27th Jane Lawless mystery (after 2019's Twisted at the Root) takes Jane, a Minneapolis restaurateur and researcher for crime podcasts dealing with Minnesota cold cases, and her best friend, theater director Cordelia Thorn, to Castle Lake for a few days of relaxation before the small town's annual arts festival. Jane and Cordelia are distracted by some gruesome news from Emma Granholm, the friend they're staying with. The remains of Sam Romilly, Emma's high school boyfriend who disappeared in 1999, have just been found buried beneath a coffin in a local graveyard, along with his backpack. For decades, it was rumored that Sam's father had murdered him. Jane decides to investigate Sam's death for a podcast, and in the course of her digging comes to realize that someone other than Sam's father had motive to kill the teenager. Hart builds tension by alternating chapters focused on Jane and friends in the present with those showing Sam and his schoolmates in 1999. Each new glimpse of the past alters readers' understanding of the present. This complex mystery will satisfy newcomers and longtime fans alike. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners. (Sept.)

Booklist Review

Twin Cities restaurant owner Jane Lawless gets fodder for her true-crime podcast when she visits Castle Lake, Minnesota, for an arts festival. After she arrives, Jane learns that the body of a long-missing teen, Sam Romilly, has been found surreptitiously buried in the local graveyard. What happened to him, as well as who is behind the arson death of a local woman who dies while Jane is in town, leads readers through the thicket of Castle Lake's politics and secrets, with a possible romance for Jane with the town's female mayor providing a pleasant side plot. Jane's job as a podcaster often gets people talking more readily than is realistic, but all too real is the story of Sam's turmoil as the gay son of an abusive man and the long life of gossip and innuendo in a small town. Hart's latest (following Twisted at the Root, 2019) will find an audience among those who enjoy small-town crime stories; a twist regarding Sam's death is a startling bonus. A solid choice for fans of Paige Shelton's Alaska Wild mysteries.

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

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