Folly

Description:

Looking for a gripping murder mystery with a feisty female sleuth? Meet Alex Duggins in this addictive series from a bestselling author.

PLEASE NOTE THIS BOOK WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DIGITALLY AS COLD.

“Stella Cameron masterfully weaves

a good old-fashioned village mystery with a grisly murder, suspects galore, and compelling intrigue

.”

New York Times

bestseller Robert Dugoni

MURDER IN A BEAUTIFUL COTSWOLDS VILLAGE

Following the breakdown of her marriage,

Alex Duggins

has returned to the village of Folly-on-Weir in the Cotswolds. She is starting again, buying the local pub in the area where she grew up.

But on a wintery walk in the hills above Folly,

Alex stumbles across a frosted corpse buried in the snow. The dead man has a dart piercing his neck.

Then the questions start.

And Alex finds herself top of the suspect list.

Can she clear her name and find the real murderer?

As she begins to peel back the layers of deception that have long concealed one of the town’s darkest secrets, she becomes the target of a ruthless killer who has nothing left to lose.

Will Alex be the next snow-covered body to be found in the beautiful hills above the town?

Perfect for fans of

Faith Martin, Agatha Christie, J.R. Ellis and Clare Chase.

Stella Cameron is a

New York Times

and

USA Today

bestselling author with over fourteen million copies of her books in print.

MEET ALEX AND TONY

People think Alex is the perfect girl-next-door, but she’s made of sterner stuff than most girls-next-door. Divorced pub owner and graphic artist, she meets challenges head on, especially when she decides to stand up for justice and the underdog. Alex is no stranger to trouble, never has been since she was a scrappy young girl with no dad, and a mum working around the clock to keep them together.

Alex’s friend

Tony Harrison

is a vet — to the disappointment of his GP dad. A quiet man with a sharp wit and strong belief in the goodness of others, he has taken hard knocks, not the least of these, the loss of a young wife who disappeared, never to be found.

THE VILLAGE

A view of Folly from The Hill — as locals call it — is cause for a smile in any season. Let’s try December, early on a cold morning. Snow covers frozen twigs that crackle beneath your feet. The snowfall is only a fine swirl now. On a high point to the west stands ruined Tinley Tower, the folly the village was named for. Below, across the green with its frozen duck pond, honey-yellow cottages huddle. Thin smoke straggles from chimneys and lights shine through small leaded windows. Villagers wake early here. The Black Dog, Alex Duggins’ pub, sits at the heart of it all, strands of coloured lights shining along its eaves. George’s bakery van is already on its rounds, as is the Lovell’s Dairy lorry. It’s too early for the scarlet-blazered children to be climbing on the school bus, but dog walkers are already marching through the narrow streets and across the green. Idyllic. Deceptively so?

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT FOLLY

“A fearless, feisty heroine, a touch of romance, and an intriguing look at English village life, combined with

taut suspense and unexpected twists

, transform what starts out looking like a British village cozy into a mesmerizing, knuckle-whitening thriller.”

Booklist

“A

thrilling conclusion,

combined with cliffhanger chapter endings, guarantees readers will be flipping the pages late into the night.”

Library Journal

“She develops

a rich sense of place,

where small village isolation has bred shadowy secrets. Cameron shows a real flair for atmospheric mysteries.”

Romantic Times Reviews

THE ALEX DUGGINS MYSTERIES

Book 1: FOLLY
Book 2: OUT COMES THE EVIL
Book 3: MELODY OF MURDER
Book 4: LIES THAT BIND
Book 5: WHISPER THE DEAD
Book 6: TRAP LANE