Etiquette for murderers and lovers – Fitzgerald Healy Anna – Phantom Press – 2026 – ISBN 978-5-907943-25-4
Etiquette for murderers and lovers
19.99 €
In stock
Etiquette for murderers and lovers
19.99 €
What do Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, and new-century romantic comedies have in common? At first glance, almost nothing, but it is precisely this unexpected intersection that underpins Anne Fitzgerald Healy's debut novel: a witty historical detective story where social graces prove as dangerous a weapon as a knife, and a love letter becomes the beginning of a chain of crimes.
The summer of 1964, Eastport—a tiny seaside town in Maine, where life is governed by propriety, and the opinions of neighbors are as valuable as the family fortune. Twenty-six-year-old Billie McCady works in a tailor shop, adores Jane Austen, detective stories, and adventure novels, and is convinced that real life is always happening somewhere else, somewhere else. Until one day, an envelope containing a diamond ring and a passionate letter addressed to a stranger named Gertrude appears in her mailbox—and the next day, Billie is practically the last person to see Gertrude alive.
And so it goes: behind the facade of garden parties, yacht clubs, and family mansions, blackmail, old family secrets, and murders are discovered. The 1960s here aren't a museum setting, but a living space—with The Beatles, pink rotary phones, and jelly salads. Each chapter is prefaced by rules of etiquette, which take on an increasingly ironic meaning as the story progresses: etiquette helps one navigate society, but doesn't protect one from danger—on the contrary, the most well-mannered are the keepers of the most carefully hidden secrets.
One of those rare debuts that immediately reveals a mature voice: a detective story, a coming-of-age novel, a love story, and a comedy of manners all rolled into one. Healy reminds us that the best secrets are born not in dark alleys, but in living rooms where everyone smiles at each other and studiously remains silent about what is not appropriate to talk about.
The summer of 1964, Eastport—a tiny seaside town in Maine, where life is governed by propriety, and the opinions of neighbors are as valuable as the family fortune. Twenty-six-year-old Billie McCady works in a tailor shop, adores Jane Austen, detective stories, and adventure novels, and is convinced that real life is always happening somewhere else, somewhere else. Until one day, an envelope containing a diamond ring and a passionate letter addressed to a stranger named Gertrude appears in her mailbox—and the next day, Billie is practically the last person to see Gertrude alive.
And so it goes: behind the facade of garden parties, yacht clubs, and family mansions, blackmail, old family secrets, and murders are discovered. The 1960s here aren't a museum setting, but a living space—with The Beatles, pink rotary phones, and jelly salads. Each chapter is prefaced by rules of etiquette, which take on an increasingly ironic meaning as the story progresses: etiquette helps one navigate society, but doesn't protect one from danger—on the contrary, the most well-mannered are the keepers of the most carefully hidden secrets.
One of those rare debuts that immediately reveals a mature voice: a detective story, a coming-of-age novel, a love story, and a comedy of manners all rolled into one. Healy reminds us that the best secrets are born not in dark alleys, but in living rooms where everyone smiles at each other and studiously remains silent about what is not appropriate to talk about.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author