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Sentenced to Death

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Who knew being a writer for hire could be so dramatic? Join Veronica in her fourth adventure as writer-turned sleuth!
When writer for hire Veronica Blackstone is asked to write the copy for The Friends of Hyde Park's annual house and garden tour, she never expects to get involved in a violent death. But that's exactly what happens when famous author Landon Donte is found dead in his study during a dinner to highlight the tour.
With his career on the wane, and apparently having deleted his last manuscript, it looks as though Landon committed suicide. But Veronica isn't so sure. She discovers that left-handed Landon was killed by someone right-handed and becomes convinced someone murdered him.
It's true that Landon had many enemies: his rival and neighbor, bestselling romance author RL Lincoln; his put-upon assistant, Brad; even his own daughter! But are any of them capable of murder? Veronica is determined to uncover the truth . . .

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 5, 2022
      In Hechtman’s winning fourth Writer for Hire mystery (after 2022’s Making It Write), fledgling Chicago mystery author Veronica Blackstone, who’s also a writer for hire, composing “whatever anybody needed, from copy for websites to celebrations of life for funerals,” takes on a new client, the Friends of Hyde Park, an organization that hires her to prepare the booklet that will accompany its annual house and garden tour. One house on the tour belongs to Landon Donte, the neighborhood literary lion, whose most recent book has flopped royally. When, during a dinner for the Friends at Donte’s home, he’s found in his locked office with a bullet hole in his head, the police are quick to assume the man had been despondent over his recent failure and shot himself. Resourceful and observant Veronica does not agree. A subplot in which Veronica writes love letters for an executive who wants a wealthy businessman to ask her to marry him adds poignancy. Hechtman does a good job introducing her vivid cast, sowing doubt about their potential motives and relationships, and letting their egos collide. This cozy is good fun. Agent: Jessica Faust, Bookends Literary.

    • Kirkus

      January 1, 2023
      A Chicago-based writer with many talents gets mixed up in yet another murder. Though Veronica Blackstone has already published a successful mystery and is working on a second, most of her income comes from writing copy for all sorts of businesses and even love letters. A fresh job beckons when her friend Tizzy Baxter asks her to come to a garden club meeting. A new member has put together a plan to improve a house and garden tour, and the group wants Veronica to write the copy for the booklet. Veronica immediately notices some tension between club sponsors and homeowners who have agendas of their own and prickly personalities. One house is owned by conceited novelist Landon Donte, who's written a few lionized but depressing books supposedly based on people in the area. Next door is R.L. Lincoln, whose books are considered lightweight but bring in a lot more money. The man financing the extended tour is a lawyer made popular by TV ads who seeks recognition for himself and his wife in society's higher echelons. Veronica herself is unsure of her feelings toward Ben Monroe, police officer, workshop member, and brother of the neighbor who's pushing them both toward romance. As she gathers information, it becomes more and more obvious that a lot of things about the tour don't add up. When Donte seemingly kills himself and destroys his new manuscript in his locked office during a progressive dinner party, Veronica suspects murder and sets out to prove it. A well-written mystery with plenty of charismatic, guilty-looking characters.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Funding for additional materials was made possible by a grant from the New Hampshire Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.