In the City of Brotherly Love, nobody knows a thing about Emmie Cade, a young widow who "appeared from nowhere," and in the blink of an eye was engaged to Leo Fairchild, a middle-aged bachelor with a fortune. However, as her marriage date approaches, Emmie's mother-in-law to be, the ailing, autocratic Claire Fairchild, receives anonymous letters. They suggest, none too subtly, that there's a great deal to learn about the mysterious young woman, none...

In the stately nineteenth-century homes on Philadelphia's Delancey Street, the wilder passions scarcely ruffle the peace. Murder is unthinkable, particularly a murder involving an upscale book discussion group, of which schoolteacher Amanda Pepper is a devoted member. Nevertheless, on the day after a heated discussion of a fictional heroine's suicide, book group member Helen Coulter falls to her death from her roof garden. Helen's death is declared...

Amanda's friend Sasha's stepmother has just committed suicide-although, according to Sasha, Phoebe Ennis would never have killed herself, especially not while having a drink and wearing a red silk blouse and red sandals with four-inch heels. Amanda isn't persuaded, but reluctantly agrees to help investigate the woman's demise, though the evidence for foul play is slim. True, the middle-aged compulsive collector of knickknacks wasn't universally loved....

When Andy Cosicki is summoned to the boss's office to describe the murder she discovered, she finds a police lieutenant and Michael McSloan, the paper's lawyer, waiting to hear her story. It requires some effort to not be distracted by McSloan's good looks, even though the scene was unforgettable-attorney Charles Muckler had been trapped in his car while a truckload of wet sand was pumped into it. Good looks are not always matched with good character,...

Battling her sister in a heated dispute at the same time her law firm runs into financial trouble, attorney Bennie Rosato takes on a potentially lucrative class action suit and finds unexpected assistance from a mysterious stranger.