The Marsh Madness

The Marsh Madness by Victoria Abbott




This book is dedicated to Linda Toledi Arno, whose big heart and many years of magical meals will live on in our memories.





ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


We are particularly indebted to Dame Ngaio Marsh for her body of work. Her wit and insights, descriptions, settings and theatricality continue to entertain. You still need good luck figuring out “whodunnit.”

We must thank Nancy Reid—a generous good friend, and committed mystery reader—for the gift of twenty-nine of the thirty-two Ngaio Marsh novels, allowing for many pleasant afternoons of relaxed reading—oops, we mean research—in the construction of The Marsh Madness.

We’d also like to give a nod to Jeff and Donna Coopman of The Usual Suspects and Peter Sellers of Sellers and Newel for help, information, hard-to-find volumes and a few laughs on the way.

Thanks to Larraine Gorman for her generous support of Ottawa Therapy Dogs. We’re glad Larraine has joined Jordan’s friends here between the covers. She makes a great addition to the Harrison Falls community.

Along the way, we learned a lot about the buzz and excitement of community theater from our good friend Judy Beltzner and the Isle in the River Theatre Company.

No doubt if you sat down with any of our family members, they might have a tale of woe about the ups and downs of having mystery writers in the fold, what with plot issues, deadlines and all that goes with the territory. Naturally, we’re grateful, especially to Giulio, who keeps the boat afloat no matter how stormy the sea. Irma Toledi Maffini and Linda Toledi Arno have laid the groundwork for Signora Panetone with their life-long wizardry in the kitchen. Peachy the Pug provides much entertainment as our real-life Walter.

We appreciate the fellowship of our friends at the Cozy Chicks Blog and Mystery Lovers Kitchen. Please join us regularly at www.cozychicksblog.com and www.mysteryloverskitchen.com to stay in touch with us in between books.

We owe special thanks to our wonderful friend and colleague Linda Wiken, aka Erika Chase, for her valuable and skilled insights into our manuscript and to John Merchant for turning his eagle eye to the pages, yet again.

Dustin Ryan deserves appreciation for his support, general cheerleading and willingness to order pizza in times of need. Thanks also to the delightful ladies of Mansfield’s Shoes, Kyra, Marion, Linda, Charley and the incomparable Miss Vicky. You put us in good shoes and even better moods.

We’d be sunk without the support of our long-suffering and big-hearted editor Tom Colgan and the ever-cheerful Amanda Ng. We know we’re lucky. We also know that our agent, Kim Lionetti, of BookEnds, always has our backs. We appreciate everything you do, Kim.

To our many readers: Thanks so much for getting in touch, for reading and enjoying the books, for getting the jokes, for spreading the word and even for asking why the next one won’t be for a year. We’re on the case!






CHAPTER ONE





BE CAREFUL WHAT you wish for, as they say. Whoever “they” are, they’ve also been known to mutter that the heart wants what it wants. I was desperate to visit Summerlea. That’s what my heart wanted.