Cyanide and Sensibility by Katie Oliver EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Katie Oliver
- Language: English
- Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mysteries
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Phaedra Brighton knew she was dangerously close to losing control of her car
on the twisty, ice-slick road.
She tightened her grip on the wheel and drew in a calming breath. It was
early December in the Blue Ridge, after all. The snow-dusted mountain
peaks and tree branches rimed in ice offered a singular beauty—but danger
as well. Branches snapped and pines fell under the weight of ice and snow.
Winter made driving perilous, especially on infrequently traveled rural
roads.
Like this one.
In spring and summer, a thick, impenetrable fog settled over the peaks
and valleys. In autumn, a buck or doe might hurtle out in front of an unwary
driver. But December meant snow, and hitting a patch of black ice could
send a car spinning treacherously close to a guardrail overlooking a heartstopping drop.
A sign loomed up ahead. . . Relief washed
over Phaedra as she realized she was nearly there. She slowed the car and
wished, not for the first time, that she was home and tucked up in bed. Not
traveling halfway up the side of Afton Mountain so early on a Friday
morning.
Oh, what she’d give for a bracing cup of Keemun right now . . .
When her mother, Nan, asked her to dress in her Regency finery and act
as a guide for the annual Historic Holiday Homes tour, Phaedra regretfully
declined. With morning and afternoon lectures scheduled at Somerset
University, a peer review awaiting comments, next quarter’s funding to
finalize, and midterms to grade before winter break, Professor Brighton had
zero free time.
Instead, she’d promised to drop off four dozen of her sister Hannah’s
cupcakes for visitors on the holiday homes tour. Cupcakes Hannah couldn’t
deliver herself because Saturday was the grand opening of her new
patisserie, Tout de Sweet.
At least she’d get a peek inside Delaford.
The historic home was a jewel in the crown of local Virginia architecture
and the final residence on the tour. And like every home on the tour, the
interior would be as lavishly decorated in traditional holiday style as the
exterior.
At the next signpost, Phaedra slowed the car and turned cautiously into
the winery entrance. She had no desire to hit black ice and send her sister’s
cupcakes, beautifully decorated and stowed in the trunk, flying.
Hopefully the sun would show its face soon and melt all of these icy
patches into harmless puddles.
The drive, branching left to the winery, or right to the historic family
residence, was paved and treated with sand. She turned right.
To one side, a parking lot was already half filled with vehicles, as well as
a large, fenced concrete area.
A helipad, she realized. Impressive.
She followed the curving asphalt and admired the fountain, turned off
now for the winter, and caught her first glimpse of Delaford.
Despite the breathtaking backdrop of mountains and sky behind it, the
house, with its turrets and arches and mullioned windows, captured her
attention. Although “house” was hardly the proper word for the sprawling
stone edifice before her.
This? This was a castle. A magnificent stone edifice straight out of
Ivanhoe. It lacked only a moat and a drawbridge, perhaps a few knights
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