Setup for Murder — Lorena Ann Olmstead

It was an odd assortment of people assembled for the expense-paid week's vacation at Fraley Lodge, and as Kay Abbott surveyed the other nine guests, her sense of unease deepened. Like the others, she had eagerly accepted the invitation even though -- like the others -- she did not know Mr. Brown, the host. Now, although Mrs. Fraley had been notified to prepare the lodge, the guests learned that the mysterious Mr. Brown would not be present.

Of all the others, Burt Hendricks, a young and friendly reporter, was the only one Kay would have chosen for company. A self-righteous judge and his wife, an aging actress, a prison guard, a flirtatious divorcee, two other men and a woman -- these were the other guests. Without the company of Burt, Kay could imagine, the vacation on the remote island would be dull indeed.

But dull it was not. That first night an unseasonable storm struck the island, cutting off all communication with the mainland -- and the next morning nine of the guests learned that the tenth of their number had been murdered. Only then did they discover that each of them -- and Old Pete, too, Mrs. Fraley's gardener -- had something in common. Then they knew who “Mr. Brown” really was -- and realized he must be lying in wait for each of them somewhere on the tiny rockbound island.

Or…was “Mr. Brown” really one of them?