The Oldest Sin

by Ellen Hart

Published 3 January 1995
The elegant Maxfield Plaza Hotel in downtown St. Paul is packed to the rafters with the powerbrokers of the charismatic Church of the Firstborn—and a national convention of the Daughters of Sisyphus.

Between the two gatherings, five old college roommates are reunited: food critic Sophie Greenway, now owner of the hotel; Adelle, who married into the founding family of the Firstborns; Lavinia, mastermind of the Daughters; and Bunny and Cindy, Lavinia’s top aides. But when a murderer terminates one of the gang, Sophie senses that not everyone is devastated by the loss.

As Sophie delicately probes the private affairs of her hotel’s star guests, she recalls another death—of a young woman who had been the group’s sixth roommate. The buried secrets of that long-ago death are exhumed as a clandestine killer once again commits the oldest sin.

No Reservations Required

by Ellen Hart

Published 31 May 2005
A KILLER WAS FULLY COMMITTED

Twin Cities businessman Ken Loy is the first to die; shot between the eyes during a sunset bike ride. Half an hour later, Bob Fabian, the rich and handsome owner of the Minneapolis Times Register, meets a similar fate. It was a year ago when Loy broadsided the VW Beetle driven by Fabian’s wife, Valerie, killing her instantly. Coincidence? Sleuthing food critic Sophie Greenway doesn’t buy it.

Indeed, the elegant Rookery Club, where the upper crust gathers to drink, dine, and gossip, is already simmering with rumors–about the murders, about a Times Register reporter’s shameless fabrication of news stories, about rifts in two high-profile relationships. So when Sophie turns up the heat, the lethal bouillabaisse of twisted love, sadistic rage, and insatiable greed boils over. It seems that poisonous concoction murder du jour is back on the menu. . . .

Death on a Silver Platter

by Ellen Hart

Published 26 August 2003
DOUBLE MURDER, ON THE HOUSE

Far from being the idyllic home Carl Veelund envisioned when he built the grand mansion years ago, Prairie Lodge has become the keeper of many dark and terrible secrets. Now family members are dropping like flies: Two women are dead—and truths long hidden are about to be brought to light.

When restaurant reviewer-cum-sleuth Sophie Greenway stumbles upon an old diary, she has no idea it will toss her like a salad into the center of the tragedies unfolding at Prairie Lodge. It appears that being a dear friend to Carl’s daughter, Elaine, has become dangerous. For in a recipe that calls for murder, deceit, sibling rivalry, and old grudges that die hard, Sophie finds herself the main ingredient. . . .