Böcker av Jean Potts

DEATH OF A STRAY CATMarcella is a born victim. She brings out the worst in men. But someone has taken it too far and murdered the poor girl. Alex knew her from the previous summer, during a brief affair when his wife was away. So when her body is discovered in their beach house, he feels as guilty as if he had murdered her himself. But Walt, who had been carrying on with her too, is the one who doesn't have an instant alibi. So he's the one they arrest. But no one really thinks Walt would have strangled her. Everyone knew Marcella-anyone could have killed her. His friends Brad and Dwight certainly knew who she was. And Jimmy, her conniving husband, was supposed to have a meeting with her that day. Horace Pankey must have seen her as well-he was working on Alex's patio that afternoon. But who hated this stray cat enough to choke the life out of her? And why? AN AFFAIR OF THE HEARTKirk Banning and his wife Hilda run an advertising agency, but ever since Kirk's heart attack, Hilda has been trying to get him to slow down. His mistress, Lorraine Walsh, also wants him to slow down. But all Kirk wants to do is leave Hilda and marry her. Which seemed like a good idea to Lorraine a year ago, but now.... So when Kirk is found dead of an apparent heart attack in Lorraine's apartment, there is a scramble to cover up the situation to protect Hilda. But the bigger question is, what happened to his heart pills that he always kept with him, the pills that could have saved his life? Is it possible that someone didn't want Kirk to survive a second heart attack, and took measures to prevent it?

HOME IS THE PRISONERJim Singley has served his time. Accused of killing his business partner, he left a lot of bad feelings in Athena—but now he’s back. Back to a wife who hates him, a son who has been raised to despise him, and a town full of folks who wish he were dead. But Jim has some unfinished business. There is his former partner’s wife, Audrey, now married to someone else. And her daughter, Cleo, the only one who spoke up for him at the trial, corroborating his defense when no one else would. There’s Matt, his only real friend, harboring a long-kept secret. And Wayne, the son who has been raised to hate, ready to explode with unanswered questions. Athena is a town that can never forgive, but Jim won’t leave until he’s confronted them all. THE LITTLE LIEEveryone knows that Dee and Chad will eventually get married. They’re such a perfect couple. So when boarder Mr. Fly overhears them having an argument that results in Chad’s moving out, he assumes that they will soon make up. But Dee knows that it’s over. She just can’t stand the public humiliation. So she lies about it. Just a little lie. She tells everyone that Chad has moved to the city to pursue a new job. Then she tells everyone he’s headed for California, where she will no doubt soon join him. She even convinces herself that it’s all true. Still, when the plane that Chad is supposedly on crashes, and someone with his last name is listed as a passenger, Dee breathes a sigh of relief. Her secret is now safe. But is it…?

GO, LOVELY ROSE They find Mrs. Henshaw at the bottom of the cellar stairs with her neck broken. Everyone assumes she has fallen. But when Rose's sister appears on the scene, she immediately begins to cry murder. And she's right! Young Hartley is the obvious suspect. Mrs. Henshaw had been his and his sister Rachel's housekeeper for many years, and there was no love lost between any of them. In fact, no one in town really liked Rose Henshaw. Her ex-husband, Francie, certainly knew how evil she could be-she ruined his life. The rest of them were simply afraid of her: young Dr. Craig, the newcomer in town; and Bix, Hartley's teenage girlfriend; her father, Hugh Bovard, editor of the local paper; and his shattered wife, Althea, still mourning the loss of her son. They all hated Rose Henshaw for one reason or another-but who hated her enough to push her down the stairs? THE EVIL WISH Ever since Marcia and Lucy were little girls, they would hide in the basement of their brownstone and listen in on their father's conversations. But now they are in their 30s, still living with their domineering father, and one day they eavesdrop on a very portentous revelation. Their widowed father intends to marry his secretary, give her all his money, and let her kick his daughters out of their house. In their anger and outrage, Marcia and Lucy hatch a plot to murder him. When their father and his secretary are involved in a fatal car crash, their plans prove unnecessary. But what are they to do with their murder scheme and the residual guilt-particularly when the aborted plot develops a life of its own?