This image is the cover for the book Death in Lilac Time, The Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries

Death in Lilac Time, The Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries

A PI and his wife just want some fun at the Kentucky Derby—but murder is a horse of a different color . . .

Private investigator Pat Abbott and his wife, Jean, are looking forwarding to seeing Pat’s old World War II buddy and taking in the splendor of the Kentucky Derby—but they didn’t bet on murder. When Pat’s friend, Dr. Seth Godwin, tells them about the death of one of his patients, a self-destructive alcoholic whose estranged wife is accused of slipping him some cyanide, duty calls once again. The victim’s family despises Jane Mallory—but what looks like a cut-and-dried case grows more complicated when the dead man’s will is read . . .

Praise for the Pat and Jean Abbott Mysteries

“Lively and exciting.” —The New York Times

“[A] well-plotted and mystifying case.” —Saturday Review

“Quite good.” —The Miami News

Frances Crane

Frances Crane (1890–1981) was an American author and former writer for the New Yorker. She was invited to leave Nazi Germany in the late 1930s after writing a number of unfavorable articles about Hitler. After settling in Taos, New Mexico, Crane introduced private investigator Pat Abbott and his future wife Jean in her first novel, The Turquoise Shop (1941). The Abbotts investigated crimes in a total of twenty-six volumes, each with a color in the title, with settings around the country and globe.

Open Road Media