by Tracee de Hahn
Published: 2017
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, WWII, Switzerland
Paperback: 368
Rating: 4
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Agnes Luthi Mysterie series
Swiss Vendetta
A Well-Timed Murder
First sentence(s):
"I thought you'd left."
In Tracee de Hahn's magnetic debut, Swiss police detective Agnes Luthi finds herself trapped in a chateau during the blizzard of the century when she's called out on her first homicide.
Detective Agnes Luthi, a Swiss-American police officer in Lausanne, Switzerland, has just switched over to the Violent Crimes unit from Financial Crimes in an effort to shed all reminders of her old life after her husband's death. Now, on the eve of the worst blizzard Lausanne has seen in centuries, Agnes has been called out on her very first homicide case. On the lawn of the grand Chateau Vallotton, along the edge of Lake Geneva, a young woman has been found stabbed to death. The woman worked for an art auction house in London, and had been taking inventory at the Chateau Vallotton, which is dripping in priceless works of art and historical treasures.
Agnes finds it difficult to draw answers out of anyone—the tight-lipped Swiss family living in the chateau, the servants who have been loyal to the family for generations, the aging WWII survivor who lives in the neighboring chateau, even the American history student studying at the Vallotton castle's library. As the storm rages on, roads become impassible, the power goes out around Lake Geneva, and Agnes finds herself trapped in the candlelit halls of the chateau with all the players of the mystery, out of her depth in her first murder case and still struggling to stay afloat after the death of her husband.
My two-bits:
Lots of suspects that kept me wondering and wandering until the end.
Loved roaming the chateau grounds for this mystery and discovering the secret areas.
* part of Books, Inc. Foreign Intrigue Book Club (here)
