Death by Marzipan — John Burke

Brigid Weir's high-flying career comes to an abrupt and shameful end. A move that places her employers in a position they never thought to be in. Brigid wants her revenge …

Brigid, married to her third husband, employs the services of her first husband, Greg Dacre, to ghost write her memoirs â€" the memoirs she will use to get back at her previous employers. Considering the potentially destructive nature and content of her memoirs, Brigid ensures there is no mention of it ahead of its publication. But a greedy publisher has other ideas … a drastic move that initiates events Brigid was hoping to avoid.

When a burglary takes place at their Crombie home, Lord Hector Crombie is devastated. All the family heirlooms are gone.

With a complicated investigation into the burglary underway, and with having to make her way through the family's twists and turns, DI Leslie Gunn finds herself facing a potentially natural death and a murder. Could the events be linked? How coincidental was it that the murdered victim was Brigid's second husband?

Gregory Dacre is filled with dread at the thought of meeting his ex-wife. But he needs the money. Taking on the task of writing her memoirs comes with known risks of Brigid's ways. But he is prepared this time. Until she makes a confession that shocks him to the core.

Caroline Crombie, Lord Crombie's daughter, does not hold her dislike for Brigid back. DI Gunn is fully aware of the tension between the two women but the complexity of this family and household takes DI Gunn along a path that is bizarre.

As the case deepens and the number of murders goes up to two, DCI Rutherford becomes involved. And with another death, supposedly from natural causes, DI Gunn's involvement with the family comes under question.

With the unexpected turn of events following the burglary, the police are left baffled. Uncovering the complexities and different angles proves to be more challenging as the deaths and burglary fail to connect. DI Gunn has her case cut out, but can she handle the obnoxious DCI Rutherford? Is this the end of her career?

John Burke was born in Sussex and brought up in Liverpool. During the war he served with the RAF, REME and on attachment to the Royal Marines during the liberation of Europe. He started one of the first science-fiction fan magazines in Britain, The Satellite, and had several short stories published before winning an Atlantic Award in Literature from the Rockefeller Foundation for his first novel, Swift Summer. He is now a full-time author and has had more than 140 books published. He has five daughters and two sons and lives in south-west Scotland with his wife.