Poly Monroe never expected to inherit anything from Reginald Villamere, the recently deceased millionaire who preserved San Ladron’s historic movie theater. As the owner of the town’s fabric shop, Poly never knew the theater owner—but her relatives, who left her the fabric shop—did. When his thirty-year-old will names them among the beneficiaries, Poly finds herself thrust into a mystery—one that turns deadly when one of Villamere’s lawyers is found murdered in a theater storage room after the will reading concludes.
Town residents are more abuzz over the will than the murder of a stranger, and rumors ensue. The historical society contests the will, determined to wrest control of the theater for themselves. The Villamere’s most devoted employee, who spent years tending to the old playhouse, has been snubbed. Another staff member is keeping his past neatly folded away, hoping no one pulls at the wrong thread. And the murdered lawyer may have had his own secret: a hidden connection to an heir no one saw coming.
As suspicion stitches into every corner of the small California town, Poly must rely on her eye for patterns and her knack for unraveling the truth. But the closer she gets to mending the gaps in this case, the more she risks becoming the next victim in a plot tailored for murder.
Diane Vallere is the national bestselling author of multiple entertaining, character-driven mystery series. She edited the Agatha Award-winning essay collection Promophobia: Taking the Mystery out of Promoting Crime Fiction. Diane majored in art history at the College of William and Mary and worked in luxury retailing before trading fashion accessories for accessories to murder. Diane started her own detective agency at age ten and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since.