Like any small community, Linchester has its intrigues: love affairs, money problems, unhappy marriages. But the gossip is elevated to new heights when young Patrick Selby dies on the very night of his beautiful wife's birthday party. The whole neighbourhood was there, witness to the horrible attack of wasp stings Patrick suffered at the end of the evening. But did Patrick die of a wasp sting? Dr. Greenleaf thinks not. Heart failure, more likely. Still, Greenleaf isn't at peace about his death. After all, everyone in Linchester hated Patrick. With the help of a certain naturalist, Dr. Greenleaf begins to think about murder.

He was young, arrogant, wealthy and in the bloom of health—or was he? “Undoubtedly one of the best writers of English mysteries and chiller-killer plots.”—The Los Angeles Times Like any small community, Linchester has its intrigues: love affairs, money problems, unhappy marriages. But the gossip is elevated to new heights when young Patrick Selby dies on the very night of his beautiful wife’s birthday party. The whole neighborhood was there, witness to the horrible attack of wasp stings Patrick suffered at the end of the evening. But did Patrick die of a wasp sting? Dr. Greenleaf thinks not. Heart failure, more likely. Still, Greenleaf isn’t at peace about his death. After all, everyone in Linchester hated Patrick. With the help of a certain naturalist, Dr. Greenleaf begins to think about murder. . . . “Rendell is awfully good.”—The New York Times Book Review

In the sequel to A Darker Magic, a grown-up Emily and her niece, Alice, return to Caledon to confront the dark forces of an evil magic. Facing pressures at home and the expectations of her pregnant mom, Alice can’t accept a summer job staging a Punch-and-Judy show at the library fast enough. As the show draws nearer, mysterious and frightening events take place and Alice’s strange Aunt Emily suspects that the truth might lie buried in the past. Will she and Alice be able to discover the dreadful secret that is sabotaging the puppet show in enough time to save themselves?