A weekend with a matchmaker…a famous Irish one at that, and at an historic Newport RI hotel. How could that be bad? As this is a mystery and not a romance, though, the potential for bad must be hidden there somewhere. The information that everyone assumes is true is not, and though there are 50 people at the weekend, there is a core that turns out to have wildly preposterous connections. Davinia Devaney, the hotelier who has set this craziness in motion, is found dead. Is it an accident or was she murdered? What is the secret that ties the attendees together? The principals tell their own stories, make their own connections, and face dangers that seems specific to each person. In the short space of a weekend, decades-old sins come home to roost. This is a thriller with more than its share of twists and surprises, all of which come to a satisfying conclusion.—Danise Hoover
