The Shortest Journey (Thorndike Press Large Print Paperback Series) - Softcover

Holt, Hazel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0783811381 ISBN 13: 9780783811383

Publisher: G K Hall & Co, 1995

Synopsis

For the indomitable Mrs. Jankiewicz, life at the West Lodge nursing home comprises much more than boring routines and twitching curtains, especially when Sheila Malory comes to call. With Sheila she can exchange gossip about the other inhabitants, including their friends Mrs. Edith Rossiter - a wealthy widow being pressurized by her scheming daughter to sign over a substantial inheritance. So when Mrs. Rossiter vanishes during a shopping trip to Taunton, Sheila Malory immediately suspects the worst. But with no hard evidence of foul play. Sheila's investigations reach a dead end. It is only when Sheila's son makes a chance discovery whilst researching in the library that she uncovers the key to the whole mystery.

About this title

About the Author:

Hazel Holt has many devoted fans in the United States and Great Britain as a writer of "cozy" British mysteries; she has published nineteen Mrs. Malory novels at last count. She is also known to admirers of Barbara Pym as the friend and biographer who additionally edited Pym's posthumous works.

From Booklist:

Holt delivers another hugely entertaining Mrs. Malory mystery. While visiting several elderly acquaintances ensconced in the West Lodge nursing home, Sheila Malory, a comfortable middle-aged widow with a keen mind and a sharp eye for detail, becomes involved in a missing-persons investigation. When Mrs. Edith Rossiter, a gentle and timid resident of West Lodge, vanishes without a trace during a routine shopping trip, both her friends and the local police are baffled. Since her self-absorbed daughter and her ne'er-do-well son had been forcefully urging Mrs. Rossiter to release large portions of their inheritance, Sheila initially suspects them of conspiring against their mother. But as she delves more deeply into the case, she realizes that her friend's disappearance may have been deliberately staged by the victim herself. With the invaluable assistance of her son, Michael, a young law student, Sheila pieces together a multidimensional puzzle with roots in Mrs. Rossiter's unhappy youth. A diverting novel whose plot features an unexpected, climactic twist. Margaret Flanagan

About this edition

• Publisher: G K Hall & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0783811381
• ISBN 13: 9780783811383
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232