Desert Winter
A Claire Gray Mystery
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
After 30 some odd years of success as a director on Broadway, Claire Gray has accepted her first academic position - that of a theatrical director at the richly funded Desert Arts College in Palm Springs. Having lived a largely peaceful life in Manhattan, she is stunned to find herself in the midst of the second murder - and murder investigation - in a matter of months in Palm Springs. This time it's a local aged and ailing collector - who frequently lends pieces to local charity events or dramatic productions - found dead shortly after Claire's friend and neighbor Grant Knoll was there. With Grant a suspect in his murder, along with several others with equally good motives for wanting him dead, Claire decides to look into the circumstances of his unfortunate death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mark Manning, the star of Craft's long-running gay sleuth series (Hot Spot, etc.), and his nephew, Thad, who's performing in one of Claire's plays at Desert Arts College in Palm Springs, Calif., lend a hand in the second whodunit to feature the illustrious theater director (after 2002's Desert Autumn). The author metes out just enough hints to give the astute reader an idea of who killed wealthy collector Stewart Chaffee, a lecherous octogenarian with any number of enemies, including his estranged niece and insolent, euthanasia-supporting nurse. As usual, gay characters and assorted odd couples, such as the 50ish Claire and her 20-something boyfriend, behave just as humanly as more conventional people. In the end, Craft shows that proving one's innocence can be as important as finding the guilty.
