Murder in the Master: A Chesapeake Bay Mystery

Real estate rule #1: A dead body creates buzz. A dead body in a house for sale is never the buzz you want.

It isn't the first time real estate agent Helen Morrisey has found someone naked in bed while showing a house. But this one is different. One glance at the bluish cast around his lips and the vacant, staring eyes, and Helen knows developer Al Capelli is never going to sign another sales agreement.

His death is big news for a small Chesapeake water town where a family empire is built around secrets and their brash money style is resented by locals. Within days, his lover, her old friend, begs Helen to find the killer before she's arrested for murder. Helen quickly realizes that solving a murder mystery in real life is a lot more dangerous than reading one. She decides to create her own Detection Club of expert sleuths-Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher, Nora Charles, Agatha Raisin, and, yes, Nancy Drew to help unearth the truth.

Detective Joe McAlister recognizes Helen's insight into back office real estate deals and local players. And for the first time since her husband's death, Helen meets a man who might return zingers as quick as she tosses them out. Mystery lovers hungry for a smart gutsy woman, a fast-moving plot, and an insider's look into a business everyone talks about, but few understand, will devour this first in a series.

Author: Judy L. Murray
Publisher: Level Best Books
Published: 09/14/2021
Pages: 270
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.61d
ISBN: 9781685120085


Award: Agatha Awards - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2022

About the Author
Murray, Judy: - A Philadelphia real estate broker and restoration addict, Judy L. Murray has worked with enough delusional sellers, jittery buyers, testy contractors, and diva agents to fill her head with back-office insight and truth versus gossip. Judy lives atop a cliff on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband where she writes long after sunset. They're buffeted by winds in winter and invaded by family and dogs in summer. She began her professional writing career as a newspaper reporter and magazine columnist on real estate and won national awards for marketing concepts. Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.