The Irish Manor House Murder

by Dicey Deere

  Torrey looked at the clock. Getting late. She’d better pack a bag and go to bed. She was leaving for Greece at eight in the morning. Rowena’s husband, Flann, would drive her to Dublin; he had to be at his desk at the Irish Times early tomorrow. A month ago, after he’d appeared again in Dublin, there was always a car following his. Flann had glimpsed it in the rearview mirror. But no more. Whatever had been was over. Torrey forced herself not to ask of Flann, “Then your father, Rory. Is he safe, somewhere?” Flann and Rowena were living at Ashenden Manor. Rowena had passed her vet exams. Later, after the baby was born, they’d move to Rowena’s property in Kildare.

  As for Ashenden Manor, Scott, hired by his mother, was totally absorbed in working with an architect and contractor on plans that would turn the manor into a country estate guest house with landscaped gardens, tennis, golf, riding, and a superior cuisine.

  Her bag packed, Torrey set the alarm. She should go to bed. But then, looking around the fireplace kitchen with voluptuous pleasure, she couldn’t resist: She put on her heavy striped apron, spread some newspaper on the floor, and with a paint scraper began to scrape the peeling brown paint from the old kitchen chair. Later, she’d sand it, rub in an apple green tint, then wax it. When she returned from Athens, she’d also buy chintz for the shabby-looking couch beside the fireplace.

  For the bare breath of an instant, she thought of Inspector Egan O’Hare and of the two false gypsies moving in a caravan somewhere along the roads of Ireland.

  Rightly or wrongly, she decided, scraping off the old paint, she was content with her conscience.

  ST. MARTIN’S PAPERBACKS TITLES BY DICEY DEERE

  The Irish Cottage Murder

  The Irish Manor House Murder

  Other titles from St. Martin’s Minotaur Mysteries

  SNIPE HUNT by Sarah R. Shaber

  ARMS OF NEMESIS by Steven Saylor

  SKELETON KEY by Jane Haddam

  A HEALTHY PLACE TO DIE by Peter King

  THE WEDDING GAME by Susan Holtzer

  THE SKULL MANTRA by Eliot Pattison

  FORTUNE LIKE THE MOON by Alys Clare

  AGATHA RAISIN AND THE FAIRIES OF

  FRYFAM by M. C. Beaton

  QUAKER WITNESS by Irene Allen

  MIDNIGHT COME AGAIN by Dana Stabenow

  COUP DE GRCE by J. S. Borthwick

  THE INDIAN SIGN by Les Roberts

  DEAD TIME by Eleanor Taylor Bland

  MURDER WITH PUFFINS by Donna Andrews

  THE BIRD YARD by Julia Wallis Martin

  A DANGEROUS ROAD by Kris Nelscott

  LARGE TARGET by Lynne Murray

  BLUE DEER THAW by Jamie Harrison

  LIE LIKE A RUG by Donna Huston Murray

  A CONVENTIONAL CORPSE by Joan Hess

  THE GREEN-EYED HURRICANE

  by Martin Hegwood

  THE IRISH MANOR HOUSE MURDER

  by Dicey Deere

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks is also proud to present

  these mystery classics by Ngaio Marsh

  SPINSTERS IN JEOPARDY

  TIED UP IN TINSEL

  VINTAGE MURDER

  WHEN IN ROME

  THE IRISH MANOR HOUSE MURDER

  Copyright © 2000 by Dicey Deere.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 00-035268

  ISBN: 0-312-97645-3

  St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition / August 2000

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / August 2001

  St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

  eISBN 9781466848825

  First eBook edition: June 2013