When murder strikes close to home and pretty young girls vanish from the privileged streets of Shady Hills, literary agent Jane Stuart finds herself in the midst of a real-life page-turner. . .with a deadly surprise ending. . .

Jane couldn't say no when her nanny's sister needed a place to stay, but she's certainly glad to see her houseguest go. In just two weeks as assistant director of the Shady Hills Public Library, Crystal Ryerson has proven herself a meddler par excellence.

Still, it's shocking when the next meeting of Jane's reading group crashes to a halt as thousands of pounds of books and shelves come toppling down on poor Crystal--especially after it's discovered that the bolts on the bookcase had been deliberately removed. But when the body of a teenager who worked at the library is found in the woods behind the railroad tracks, and two other girls go missing, Jane is sure the events are all pieces of the same puzzle.

Somehow, despite the ever-present distractions of trying to keep Winky's claws out of the couch and her diva clients' claws out of each other, Jane manages to stay on the murderer's trail. But a trail can go both ways, and this one may well lead the killer right to Jane's doorstep. . .

"Fans will be charmed."--Publishers Weekly

"Amusing and suspenseful. . .entertaining cozy fare."--Romantic Times

Like his sleuth Jane Stuart, Evan Marshall heads his own literary agency. A former book editor, he has contributed articles on writing and publishing to numerous magazines and is the author of Eye Language, The Marshall Plan for Writing, and the Jane Stuart series, Missing Marlene, Hanging Hannah, Stabbing Stephanie, Icing Ivy and Toasting Tina. He lives and works in Pine Brook, New Jersey.