Swiss Vendetta

"A true page turner," this "fascinating" Swiss mystery features a female homicide detective hunting a killer in a lonely chateau in the dead of winter (Charles Todd, New York Times –bestselling author of A Test of Wills ). Inspector Agnes Luthi, a Swiss-American police officer in Lausanne, Switzerland, has just transferred to the Violent Crimes unit from Financial Crimes to try to shed all reminders of her old life following her husband's death. Now, on the eve of the worst blizzard Lausanne has seen in centuries, Agnes has been called to investigate her very first homicide case. On the lawn of the grand Chateau Vallotton, at the edge of Lac Leman, a young woman has been found stabbed to death. The woman, an appraiser for a London auction house, had been taking inventory at the chateau, a medieval fortress 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 mansion, even the American history student studying at the Vallotton chateau's library. As the storm rages on, roads become impassible, the power goes out around Lausanne, 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. "A gripping, multilayered mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end!"―Ashley Weaver, author of One Final Turn "Fans of both contemporary and historical mystery will devour this debut."―Alyssa Maxwell, author of Murder at the Breakers