Books by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

THE UNFINISHED CRIME Andrew Branscombe has been courting Hilda Patrell in his old-fashioned, priggish way.  He doesn’t realize that, though separated from her husband, she is still married.  So when Charles Patrell returns and begins to interfere with his plans, Andrew accidentally kills him in a fit of rage and fear.  At first panicked, his terror turns to exhilaration as he realizes that he can get away with the deed.  All he has to do is keep everyone from the truth. First there is his sister Eva, who is trusting enough to believe everything he tells her.  And there is Hilda and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Coralie, Charles’s daughter.  And Charles’s old friend, Vincent Colton, who shows up looking him.  And Charles’s young live-in girlfriend, Blanche, who must be dealt with.  And of course there’s Jerry, who unfortunately appears at exactly the wrong moment, but ends up helping him get rid of the body—and now won’t go away.  Fortunately for Andrew he is up to the task—daring and clever fellow that he is—because a lesser man would surely be caught.        THE GIRL WHO HAD TO DIE “I’m going to be murdered,” she said in her muffled, sad little voice.  Jocelyn is only nineteen but is convinced that she is going to die.  She meets John Killian on a cruise ship heading back to New York.  And when later than night she falls over the rail and into the ocean, it looks like her prediction had come true.  Imagine Killian’s surprise when the rescued Jocelyn insists that he was the one who had pushed her. She’s poison, he thought. She can’t help that, anymore than a rattlesnake can help it.  But you have to get away from her.  When they dock, Jocelyn convinces Killian to accompany her to the Bells for a visit.  She’s claims that she is in love with Killian, and will keep his secret.  And then one of the passengers, Elly L’O, and the ship’s purser, Chauverney, also show up at the Bells, followed by Angelo, who had been their ship’s waiter.  Each one seems to have a connection to Jocelyn—even Mr. and Mrs. Bell--and it soon becomes clear to Killian that they are bonds of hate.  But Jocelyn claims innocence.  Is he being groomed to be her next victim—or her murderer?

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL When Karen Peterson first meets Mr. Fernandez on the cruise ship, he is so charming.  Still, when he offers her a job as hostess at his new island hotel, she accepts with a great deal of reluctance.  After all, charm can hide a multitude of flaws.  And when she meets her predecessor, the very young and headstrong Cecily, Miss Peterson is sure that she seems more than a mere employee.  Even the guests have their secrets—Mrs. Fish tells her that she is looking for her husband’s murderer at the hotel. But that first night Cecily surprises them all by announcing that she has just killed a man who had attacked her in Mr. Fernandez’s room.  Later, one of the clerks tells Miss Peterson that he had seen the devil that night, stalking the hotel halls.  Then Mrs. Fish shows Karen a photo of her dead husband—who looks like the devil himself!  But nothing prepares Miss Peterson for murder, and that, of course, is just what comes next. THE OBSTINATE MURDERER Emilia Swan calls Van Cleef at his club and begs him to come to her aid.  Someone is blackmailing her.  Though he’d rather have another drink, he agrees to visit her.  But before he can leave he runs into the son of an old friend.  Russell Blackman, a supercilious young man with a gifted intellect, has the unfortunate habit of alienating everyone around him.  But he has always idolized Van Cleef, and agrees to drive him to Emilia’s country home if he can tag along. When they arrive, they walk into a house filled with tension.  Since the death of her husband—some say suicide—Emilia has let out rooms in her house.  Staying with her are Major Bramwell, an irascible old gent who demands that they leave immediately; Annie and Harry Downes, neither of whom seem to like their hostess one bit; and Lizzy Carroll, a pale, sharp-featured girl who drives the Major to distraction with her loud music.  That night Harry is stricken with a serious stomach illness.  Russell thinks he’s been poisoned, but no one takes him seriously.  The next night, Van Cleef himself is nearly poisoned.  There is certainly more going on than mere blackmail, but will Van Cleef live long enough to figure out what it is?