The Corpse With the Golden Nose

by Cathy Ace

  My thanks to Andy Cave, coroner at the BC Interior Region Coroners’ Office in Kelowna, BC, for sharing his professional insights in such a timely, pleasant, and professional manner.

  My thanks to my Mum and sister: if not for their support and encouragement, I might never write another sentence. They read what I have written and give me the most honest feedback it’s possible to give someone you love. Because I write, my husband puts up with a lot. Only he knows just how much, and he never mentions it. Thank you.

  The entire “TouchWood Team” is wonderful: my thanks to you all. My special thanks to Ruth Linka, the publisher who allows Cait and me to have these adventures and solve these puzzles; Emily Shorthouse, who publicizes the fact that Cait’s on the case again; and Pete Kohut, whose cover designs sing out on the shelves of bookstores and libraries. Of course, my thanks go to Frances Thorsen, whose fabulous bookstore Chronicles of Crime in Victoria, BC, provides the perfect setting, and background knowledge, for her to be a wonderful editor, and to Lenore Hietkamp, without whose copy editing there’d be flocks of misplaced punctuation flying about the place.

  Thanks to all the printers, distributors, booksellers, and librarians who play a part in bringing this book from me to you, the reader, and, of course, my thanks to you, for taking the time to enter Cait’s world: I hope you enjoy your time with her. I know I always do!

  Welsh Canadian mystery author CATHY ACE is the creator of the Cait Morgan Mysteries, which include The Corpse with the Silver Tongue and The Corpse with the Golden Nose. Born, raised, and educated in Wales, Cathy enjoyed a successful career in marketing and training across Europe, before immigrating to Vancouver, Canada, where she taught on MBA and undergraduate marketing programs at various universities. Her eclectic tastes in art, music, food, and drink have been developed during her decades of extensive travel, which she continues whenever possible. Now a full-time author, Cathy’s short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, as well as on BBC Radio 4. She and her husband are keen gardeners, who enjoy being helped out around their acreage by their green-pawed Labradors. Cathy’s website can be found at cathyace.com.

  MORE GREAT MYSTERIES FROM TOUCHWOOD EDITIONS

  THE CAIT MORGAN MYSTERY SERIES

  The Corpse with the Silver Tongue

  by Cathy Ace

  In the south of France where hatred simmers in the heat, a man seemingly admired, and certainly feared, drops dead at a dinner party. All of the guests fall under suspicion, including Welsh-Canadian professor Cait Morgan. A criminologist who specializes in profiling victims, Cait sets out to solve the murder—and clear her name. Add to this the disappearance of an ancient Celtic gold collar said to be cursed and there you have the ingredients for a Nicoise salad of death, secrets, and lies. Will Cait find the killer before she too falls victim to a murderer driven by a surprising and disturbing motive?

  The Corpse with the Silver Tongue is the first in the Cait Morgan mystery series, a classic whodunit series featuring the eccentric Professor Cait Morgan.

  The Corpse with the Golden Nose

  by Cathy Ace

  A heartfelt plea to look into the death of a world-famous vintner goes hand in hand with the opportunity to attend an exclusive gourmet event in British Columbia's stunning wine country. How can overindulgent foodie and criminologist Cait Morgan resist?

  Sure that the award-winning owner of a family-run vineyard was murdered, Cait shares her findings with Bud Anderson, a retired homicide cop. But he is convinced that the woman took her own life, whatever her grief-stricken sister might say. That is, until death strikes once again, in the neat rows of grapevines that clamber up the banks of magnificent Lake Okanagan. Uncovering obsessions that might have fuelled murderous thoughts among the victim's wacky neighbours is a start, but as Cait unravels the clues, she realizes that more lives are at stake. Can she think, and act, quickly enough to thwart the killer?

  The Corpse with the Golden Nose is the second book in the Cait Morgan Mysteries, a classic whodunit series featuring the eccentric Professor Cait Morgan.

  THE LULU MALONE MYSTERY SERIES

  Deadly Dues

  by Linda Kupecek

  When former TV star Lulu Malone finds her evil union representative stabbed to death, her first instinct is to run. Unfortunately, the exit is crowded, as she has four actor friends with her. Without much choice, Lulu becomes enmeshed in the real-life detective hunt, one that she has only experienced as an actor on TV. With her life in danger, and her beloved dog Horatio kidnapped, Lulu’s days are filled with threats, thrift store finds, and hindrances by unknown, overweight assailants.

  Get ready for the Lulu Malone mysteries, a gutsy new detective series that presents meditations on the life of the artist, in between muggings, murders and mayhem.

  THE MARGARET SPENCER MYSTERY SERIES

  by Gwendolyn Southin

  Death in a Family Way

  Author Gwendolyn Southin uniquely blends the charm of gumshoe techniques with the fresh perspective of a developing female detective. The Margaret Spencer Mysteries offer action and suspense, with a human subtext.

  At age fifty, Margaret Spencer's empty nest and empty marriage prompt her to answer an ad for part-time office work at the office of private investigator Nat Southby. Suddenly, she is deep in the most unlikely of adventures for a woman in 1950s Vancouver, helping him with a case of missing young women involved in a shady business ring. Maggie finds unexpected freedom as a developing detective and along the way she uncovers evil in the quaintly urban setting.

  In the Shadow of Death

  Just one year later, Margaret is coming into her own as an investigator, after leaving the comforts of her Kerrisdale home and her inattentive husband, a corporate lawyer. Living in trendy and bustling Kitsilano with Nat Southby, her newfound happiness is undercut by her family's pleadings to return home. In need of a vacation, she and Nat head for a ranch in the Cariboo. Instead of solace, they find violence, betrayal and an unsolved missing person's case that introduces them to host of new and questionable characters.

  Death on a Short Leash

  Back in Vancouver, Maggie and Nat begin their next adventure at a cranberry bog where a veterinarian's assistant has been found dead. A long trail with a faint scent to follow, their victim's double-life leads them to a strip club, a bogus religious sect, and a nursing home with a dark underlying secret.

  Death as a Last Resort

  It is January 1961 and Margaret Spencer and Nat Southby are relaxing on a ski holiday when their vacation takes a bone-chilling turn. While cross-country skiing the couple comes across the frozen body of Maurice Dubois, a man who went missing from a fishing resort the month before. When Maurice’s wife is also found murdered, the two Vancouver detectives are hired by the victims’ children to investigate. An energetic hunt begins, as Maggie and Nat find themselves involved in clandestine visits to a clothing factory on East Hastings Street, encounters at horse-breeding stables in Langley, a car chase to Lulu Island and eventually a pilgrimage to the fishing resort at St. Clare’s Cove in Pender Harbour.

  In Death As a Last Resort, the fourth book in the popular Margaret Spencer Mystery series, our favourite Vancouver female sleuth Maggie Spencer and her partner Nat Southby continue their escapades as they track down the unlawful and dangerous.

  Death as a Fine Art

  Journey into the fashionable art world of 1960s Vancouver as Margaret Spencer and Nat Southby return in Death as a Fine Art, the fifth book in the Margaret Spencer mystery series. The owner of the Silver Unicorn Art Gallery is dead, and Southby and Spencer, Private Investigators are back at work in search of the killer. With plenty of suspects and twists and turns along the way, Maggie and Nat have their work cut out for them.

  The cast of memorable characters are no match for the investigators. Maggie trusts her instincts as they take her from the streets of Vancouver to Victoria, Galiano Island, and Mission. Meanwhile, her estranged husband continues his efforts to win her back, but even
with plans for her daughter's wedding taking up all her spare time, Maggie knows there is no returning to her old life. Author Gwendolyn Southin uniquely blends the charm of gumshoe techniques with the fresh perspective of a developing female detective.

  Copyright © 2013 Cathy Ace

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (ACCESS Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit accesscopyright.ca.

  LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

  Ace, Cathy, 1960–

  The corpse with the golden nose [electronic resource] / Cathy Ace.

  (A Cait Morgan mystery)

  Electronic monograph.

  Issued also in print format.

  ISBN 978-1-927129-89-0 (HTML).—ISBN 978-1-927129-90-6 (PDF)

  I. Title. II. Series: Ace, Cathy, 1960- . Cait Morgan mystery (Online).

  PS8601.C41C66 2013 C813'.6 C2012-906791-1

  Editor: Frances Thorsen

  Proofreader: Lenore Hietkamp

  Cover image: Kevin Miller, istockphoto.com

  Author photo: Jeremy Wilson Photography (jeremywilsonphotography.com)

  We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for our publishing activities from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, and the province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  TouchWood Editions

  touchwoodeditions.com