Mysterious Reviews Home

A Hard Bargain

A Madeline Maclin Mystery by Jane Tesh

A Hard Bargain by Jane Tesh

Synopsis (from the publisher): After solving her first big murder case in the small town of Celosia, North Carolina, Madeline Maclin hopes at last to be taken seriously as a private investigator. She's opened an office in the home of her best friend Jerry Fairweather, a man haunted by his past who enjoys running harmless scams.

Jerry doesn't feel worthy of anyone's love--bad news for Madeline--although she thinks Jerry's sister Harriet knows more about the accident that killed their parents than she'll say.

Madeline is hired to find Kirby Willet, an eccentric inventor who left boxes of his belongings, including one filled with money, at Frannie Thomas' house. Meanwhile Voltage Films director, Josh Gaskins, is in town and thinks Jerry's old house will be perfect for his horror film, "Curse of the Mantis Man," about Celosia's mythical beast. Is this monster actually real?

Celosia is also hopping with the Pageantoids, rabid fans from Madeline's days as a beauty queen, who have come to Celosia to produce more pageants. And then there's Rick Rialto, one of Jerry's shady con artist friends.

When Gaskins is murdered, Madeline uncovers several suspects and is forced to make — and investigate — some hard bargains. At least one of which is with Jerry …

Amazon.com Print and/or Kindle Edition Kobo eBook Apple iTunes/iBooks Edition Barnes&Noble NookBook Abe Books The Book Depository: Free Worldwide Shipping Biblio Alibris Books-a-Million

Clicking on the above button(s) will open a new window or tab on the respective vendor's website with more information about purchasing this book. (Links to Abe Books, Alibris, Biblio.com, and Books-a-Million are to the home page only.) Availability of books from listed vendors is subject to change without notice.

Mysterious Reviews is a participant in several affiliate programs that may provide a commission or advertising fee as the result of a product sale; see our full disclosure on the About page.

Books-a-Million tracking Alibris tracking Biblio tracking

— ♦ —

A Hard Bargain by Jane Tesh

A Hard Bargain by Jane Tesh — A Madeline Maclin Mystery

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-354-8
Publication Date: January 2007
List Price: $24.95

Return to Review

— ♦ —

Page Author: Lance Wright
Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews

Mysterious Reviews is a Division of
The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books
and a Business Unit of the
Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites