Lake Country

Mysteries

Atmospheric, character-based cozy-noir mystery novels set on the cold, quiet waters of the north. Written by Casey Close.

Casey Close’s North Country Mystery series pairs two brilliant women: Erica Grace, an annoyingly tall, athletic streetwise investigator and wisecracking narrator, with her Auntie Em, a brilliant but eccentric, wheelchair-bound, mystery loving detective. Set chiefly in the north country town of Trinity Point, these traditional mysteries blend ingenious puzzles, sharp dialogue, and the entertaining friction between two formidable personalities.

A murder-mystery convention at Grace Manor becomes the real thing when an actor playing Edgar Allan Poe is shot by a hidden rifle—apparently fired from the keynote speaker’s missing phone.

The stone monstrosity on the shores of Lake Trinity, called Grace Manor, has survived generations of Graces, family scandals, bad plumbing, and more than one encounter with the police. Erica Grace would prefer not to test its endurance unnecessarily. Her aunt, Emily “Auntie Em” Wilkinson, has other ideas.

The regional Poe Society is asking to hold its annual convention in the ballroom of Grace Manor; Erica immediately objects. A house full of Edgar Allan Poe scholars, collectors, dealers, and theatrical enthusiasts strikes her as exactly the sort of gathering likely to end badly. Auntie Em, a self-taught mystery scholar, is intrigued, however, particularly because celebrated Poe authority Dr. Ambrose Vale will attend with a recently discovered first edition that has created a sensation in literary circles.

When the book’s authenticity is challenged, certain people behave suspiciously.

Erica asks questions and finds the stakes are high. Among them are substantial money commitments, fraud, theft, jealousy, reputations, betrayal, blackmail, and public humiliation.

The book is proven fake, assembled from a mixture of authentic old materials and later additions.

An actor, who might be part of the fraud, hired to play Edgar Allan Poe in a dramatic presentation, is shot dead during the play with a gun and a shooter that nobody saw.

Challenged by an intelligent killer with a brilliant, far-reaching plan, Erica and Auntie Em must outthink the killer and turn the plan back on itself.