A Sardonic Death


Penny’s Third Adventure

Penny Summers, a thirty-something ex-Navy public affairs officer, is dumbfounded to learn that her first major landscape design client, Aidan, has died. She’s doubly bumfuzzled, as her great-aunt would say, to discover that Aidan’s wife, whom she had not met, is her long-estranged mother, and triply-bumfuzzled to conclude that her mom caused Aidan’s death.

When she hears whispers from her late lamented Grandpa Jack, though, her suspects multiply. Then, with forensic help from her 12-year-old CSI-wannabe “niece” Kalea, and Irish shenanigans from Aidan’s sainted brother Brendan, on loan from Broadway, Penny’s focus widens again. It takes another death before Penny and Brendan hatch a plan.

You’ll need your running shoes

You’ll need your running shoes to keep up with Penny Summers as she navigates personal relationships, holds down two jobs, and of course, solves a few murders. Readers will enjoy Penny’s junior sidekick, Kalea, and the sense of place Gordon creates with loving details about Annapolis and the fascinating (and sometimes deadly) plants that grow there.
—Heather Newton, author of Under The Mercy Trees