A 20-year-old event in exclusive Tuxedo Park, NY, haunts the newest Eliza Blake mystery, as she and her co-workers, comprising the KEY News group (and the Sunrise Suspense Society), grapple with a series of clues left to unravel why Innis Wheelock committed suicide by stigmata. A scion of Tuxedo Park, well-liked and married to his childhood sweetheart (who became governor of New York and later ambassador to Italy), Innis returned home after their stint in Rome to rebuild and refurbish their home in Tuxedo Park, a fancy enclave 40 miles from New York City.
In working with his architect, Innis insisted on incorporating various features in the estate. When the work was finished, he hosted a party on the Feast of St. Francis, inviting hundreds of persons, during which event he told Eliza she could unravel the mystery. Subsequently, the architect, his secretary and others are murdered, and Eliza and her lover nearly so.
This well-drawn and -researched story progresses with a great deal of information about St. Francis and the stigmata (the five wounds sustained by Jesus upon his crucifixion) and other events surrounding his betrayal and death. This is the third novel in the KEY News series, and it is imaginative and moving. The plot, built around several hidden clues, is intriguing and the writing well-done. Recommended.
