Stephanie Austin

When Juno Browne buys a second-hand car for her lover, Daniel Thorncroft, the last thing she expects to findis a dead man in the boot. As police hunt for answers and the missing seller, Amber Horrell, Juno's curiositypulls her into the mystery. In this quiet corner of Devon, Amber's family are notorious, with an unsolved murderand a vanished red diamond in their past, and a decidedly shady antiques business in their present. When a second body surfaces, Juno's amateur sleuthing turns dangerous, blurring reality andfiction, and revealing a far more tangled crime than anyone imagined.

When Juno Browne purchased a car for her lover, Daniel Thorncroft, she was not expecting that the previous owner would lock a dead body in the boot. Who the dead man could be is a persistent question, as is the whereabouts of the seller, Amber Horrell. While Inspector Ford and the Ashburton police are on the case, Juno''s insatiable curiosity and concern for the missing Amber lead her to start sleuthing on her own. It turns out that the Horrells, Amber''s family, are notorious in this corner of Devon, with an ancient murder and vanishing red diamond in their past and a shady antiques business very much in their present. With a second murder, Juno''s involvement in the investigation becomes more complicated and the line between reality and fiction also become blurred. But the truth, she discovers, is far more complicated than it seems. Rural cosy crime perfect for fans of Kate Ellis and our own Rebecca Tope The ninth book in the very successful Devon Mysteries series by Stephanie Austin. This compelling crime series follows amateur sleuth and antique dealer, Juno Browne, as she stumbles upon mysterious murders in the idyllic Devon countryside.

Juno Browne, self-proclaimed Domestic Goddess who can turn her hand to cleaning, dog walking or home help jobs, is feeling overworked and underpaid. Her elderly client, Maisie, is demanding more of her time and staff absences at the Ashburton antiques shop Juno owns are making business difficult. She is not the only one with problems, very serious problems. Among her friends, Elizabeth is being blackmailed, and Ricky''s errant nephew is on the run from criminals in London.In an attempt to get to the bottom of these disturbing developments, Juno finds herself drawn from an isolated manor house on Dartmoor to London''s glamorous but shady theatreland. Can she avoid being fatally entangled in threads of deception and murder?