Both men could use a good shake or a solid slap up the side of the head every now and then, but they both have their reasons for their defense mechanisms. I really like the characters of Hazard and Somerset. Bodies gradually start to deplete the strange, assembled group that have come together to participate in “trust building” murder mystery solving in a staged setting on the ground of a huge Victorian manor. Hazard and Somerset, as detective partners and having worked out some of their issues from the past, drop into an Agatha Christie like setting outside Wahredua in the middle of a fierce snowstorm just before Thanksgiving. First, Hazard and Somers have to survive. And as the snow falls and the mansion's guests continue to die one by one, solving the string of murders becomes secondary.

Without backup, they can only rely on their wits-and on each other-to survive. Just when things can't get any more confusing, the next morning brings a worsening storm-and a murder.Ĭut off from the outside world, Hazard and Somers must face a clever, determined killer who is hiding among the mansion's guests. The turmoil of living together spills over when Hazard and Somers find themselves trapped by the weather in an old mansion and, against Hazard's better judgment, sharing a bed. Living with Somers, whom he has been drawn to since high school, makes 'complicated' the understatement of the year. Hazard, however, finds his life has only grown more complicated as he adjusts to his new home. The brutal murders that rocked the quiet town of Wahredua have been put to rest. Emery Hazard and his partner, John-Henry Somerset, have solved their first case together.

Transposition by Gregory Ashe