A Fatal Reunion

Book excerpt: Prohibition in America creates a dual mystery for amateur sleuth Arabella Stewart in the series' fifth book. Arabella Stewart and her best friend, Ida Byington, look forward to a long weekend with college girlfriends on a remote Lake Erie island. Bootlegged booze and hidden grievances soon shatter the peace. When a gale knocks out electricity and telephone service, the women become stranded. After one dies, Bella’s suspicions escalate. What caused the death? Who is responsible? Does danger still lurk around them? Jax Hastings, now a Prohibition agent, returns home to see Bella, only to find her away. When he and Griff Biggins, Ida’s beau, try to reach the women by telephone, they learn about the death—but not who died. Alarmed, they head to the island, where Bella and Ida reveal their discoveries—about rumrunners on the island and the odd death of their friend. Clues point to several people who may be at the heart of a fatal reunion.