New Releases by Katherine Hall Page

Enjoy the first three volumes of Katherine Hall Page's long-running New England cozy mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild. In The Body in the Belfry, Faith discovers a dead body in the church. After the victim's recent engagement ended poorly, the police have zeroed in on her ex-fiance. Faith is determined to find the truth, but the small town has too many sordid secrets. In The Body in the Kelp, Faith and her family are spending their summer on Sanpere Island. Faith decides to participate in a harmless treasure hunt. When she stumbles across a dead body on the beach, her investigation is forced into something much more dangerous. In The Body in the Bouillon, Faith works to uncover the mysterious doings of the local retirement home after a resident falls face-first into their bouillon. And when a drug dealer turns up dead, Faith must work fast to reveal the murderer.

The 26th book in the award-winning Faith Fairchild Mysteries series. Katherine Hall Page’s beloved amateur detective gets wrapped up in a Zoom-bombing scandal that sends her community into a tailspin … just as a dead body is discovered. Faith Fairchild joins the rest of the world in lockdown mode when reality flips in March 2020. As the pandemic spreads, Faith and her family readjust to life together in Aleford, Massachusetts. Her husband, Tom, continues his sermons from Zoom; their children, Ben, who's in college, and Amy, a high school senior, are doing remote learning at home . Faith is happy to have her family under the same roof and grateful for her resilient community, friends, and neighbors in Aleford. Town halls remain lively and well-attended, despite residents joining from their living rooms. It is at one of these town halls that scandal breaks out. In the midst of a Zoom meeting, damaging images suddenly flash upon everyone’s screens. Claudia, local art teacher and Faith’s dear friend, is immediately recognized as the woman who has been targeted. When Claudia is later discovered dead, Faith, with the help of her friends, journeys deep into the dark web to unravel the threads of Claudia’s mysterious history and shocking passing.

The inimitable Faith Fairchild returns in a chilling New England whodunit, inspired by the best Agatha Christie mysteries and with hints of the timeless board game Clue. For most of her adult life, resourceful caterer Faith Fairchild has called the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford home. While the native New Yorker has come to know the region well, she isn’t familiar with Havencrest, a privileged enclave, until the owner of Rowan House, a secluded sprawling Arts and Crafts mansion, calls her about catering a weekend house party. Producer/director of a string of hit musicals, Max Dane—a Broadway legend—is throwing a lavish party to celebrate his seventieth birthday. At the house as they discuss the event, Faith’s client makes a startling confession. "I didn’t hire you for your cooking skills, fine as they may be, but for your sleuthing ability. You see, one of the guests wants to kill me." Faith’s only clue is an ominous birthday gift the man received the week before—an empty casket sent anonymously containing a twenty-year-old Playbill from Max’s last, and only failed, production—Heaven or Hell. Consequently, Max has drawn his guest list for the party from the cast and crew. As the guests begin to arrive one by one, and an ice storm brews overhead, Faith must keep one eye on the menu and the other on her host to prevent his birthday bash from becoming his final curtain call. Full of delectable recipes, brooding atmosphere, and Faith’s signature biting wit, The Body in the Casket is a delightful thriller that echoes the beloved mysteries of Agatha Christie and classic films such as Murder by Death and Deathtrap.

Minster’s wife, caterer, and part-time sleuth Faith Fairchild pairs up with Sophie Maxwell, last seen in Body in the Birches and now a newlywed living in historic Savannah, Georgia, where Sophie crosses paths with murder. Another delightful entry in the beloved mystery series, complete with delectable recipes. Attorney Sophie Maxwell has come to Savannah to be with her new husband, Will. But nothing throws cold water on a hot relationship faster than a dead body. Worse for Sophie, no one believes the body she knows she saw is real. Will is spending an awful lot of time in Atlanta on a case he claims is urgent, and she’s been tasked with house hunting for them with his former sweetheart, who Sophie can’t help but suspect wishes Sophie would return to her Yankee roots! Fortunately, Sophie has a good friend in Faith Fairchild. With teenage Amy being bullied by mean girls and husband Tom contemplating a major life change that will affect all the Fairchilds, Faith is eager for distraction in the form of some sleuthing. In between discussions of newlywed agita, surprising Savannah customs and, of course, fabulous low country food, Faith and Sophie will pair up to unmask a killer!

The twenty-first Faith Fairchild mystery takes Faith and her husband, the Reverend Tom Fairchild, to Italy, where murder and mayhem mix with pecorino, panna cotta, and prosecco. To celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary, amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild and her husband, the Reverend Tom Fairchild, leave placid New England behind for a week of romance and fine food in Italy. The bruschetta, the biscotti, the Chianti—Faith can’t wait! She’s also looking forward to seeing her former assistant Francesca, and take a class at her new cooking school in Florence. But on their very first night, a travel writer Faith meets in their Roman hotel turns up dead. Then, in their cooking class in Florence, they find themselves surrounded by a number of suspiciously familiar faces they recognize from Rome. Someone is cooking up some unsavory business, including sabotaging Francesca’s school. To save her anniversary vacation and protect her friend, Faith must follow a twisting trail of clues to unmask a killer—while learning to master a mean Spaghetti a la Foriana, too!

“Katherine Hall Page is my favorite writer of the traditional mystery.” —Harlan Coben “Hungry readers, enjoy!” —Diana Mott Davidson Minister’s wife, caterer, and amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild must solve a deadly mystery more than seventy years in the making in The Body in the Gazebo, the nineteenth ingenious whodunit in the delectable, Agatha Award-winning series by Katherine Hall Page. Faith has a lot on her plate as she attempts to solve a Depression Era murder while trying to clear her husband’s name after he is accused of a heartless theft. Poignant, suspenseful, puzzling, and all-around marvelous, The Body in the Gazebo is cozy culinary mystery at its very best—complete with scrumptious recipes from Faith Fairchild’s kitchen and a resolution that would make Dame Agatha Christie proud.

“Katherine Hall Page is my favorite writer of the traditional mystery. Not only is The Body in the Sleigh a gripping whodunit, but it’s a classic tale of hope.” —Harlan Coben Caterer and minister’s wife Faith Fairchild is back to solve her eighteenth deadly mystery in The Body in the Sleigh—the latest perfect puzzler in author Katherine Hall Page’s multiple Agatha Award-winning series. Set on Sanpere Island in Maine’s Penobscot Bay, this atmospheric holiday whodunit is chock-full of suspense, surprises, real heart, and small miracles. And, as always, the mystery comes with recipes for delectable holiday treats from Faith Fairchild’s kitchen.

Murder is combined with a timeless Christmas story in this enchanting installment of the popular mystery series by award-winning author Katherine Hall Page The Body in the Sleigh It's Christmastime, and the Fairchild family is spending the holidays on idyllic Sanpere Island in Maine while the Reverend Thomas Fairchild recuperates from surgery. His caterer wife, Faith, is rejoicing in the rare, holiday family-time together—watching ice boaters, snowshoeing, and doing plenty of reading in front of the fire. But Faith's high spirits are dampened when she discovers the body of a young woman in an antique sleigh in front of the Sanpere Historical Society. The victim, Norah, was a teenage drug addict who apparently died by her own hand. Beloved by many, her untimely death rocks the isolated, tight-knit island community. Meanwhile, Mary Bethany, a local spinster who raises goats, happens upon a newborn baby boy lying in the manger of her barn on Christmas Eve. The only clues to his identity are a note in the basket asking her to take care of him, as well as an alarming amount of cash. As Faith helps Mary locate the baby's mother, she soon finds that the truth behind the abandonment is connected to Norah's last days—and that, just as death and life are intertwined on Sanpere, so are evil and redemptive goodness.

"This romantic mystery, filled with country-house atmosphere and cookery, offers an homage to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None . . . addictive." — Booklist Faith Fairchild is asked to cater a very small, very private college reunion on an isolated New England island—an event that could be her dream job. But when she discovers the true reason for the get-together, not even the spectacular ocean views can keep it from turning into a nightmare. Thirty years ago, bestselling suspense writer Barbara Bailey Bishop lost her twin sister in a tower fall deemed a suicide. But Barbara is convinced that Hélène did not die by her own hand, and she's trapped Hélène's former classmates—her prime suspects—at her home with no phone lines, no cell reception, and no means of escape. One by one, the alumnae fall prey to a madwoman. A disturbed sister's revenge . . . or a former coed's coverup? Faith must quickly unlock the secrets of Hélène's last night if she wants to leave the island alive. "An intricately plotted novel that challenges readers." — The Boston Globe "Page keeps the reader guessing to the very end. Cozy mystery buffs will enjoy trying to find the Christie references." — Library Journal (starred review) "Readers of the series will relish this addition; Christie fans will enjoy an engaging tribute." — Publishers Weekly "It may be impossible to surpass And Then There Were None, the obvious model here, but Page builds tension and makes us care about the suspects' troubled lives." — Kirkus Reviews

Caterer Faith Fairchild and family are living in one of historic Cambridge, Massachusetts', venerable Brattle Street houses while the Reverend Tom teaches a course at the Harvard Divinity School and does some soul searching -- is his Aleford parish his true calling? One night in downtown Boston, Faith is startled by a face from her past. It's Richard Morgan, a former boyfriend from her life as a single woman in Manhattan. Their heady, whirlwind affair in the waning days of the self-indulgent 1980s ended abruptly. Now he's back, as exciting as ever. Then something occurs that turns a pleasant sabbatical into a nightmare -- Faith discovers a diary, written in 1946 and hidden in the attic, that reveals an unspeakable horror. Suddenly dark secrets seem to permeate every room. And with Richard guarding strange secrets of his own, Faith is soon caught up in solving more than one troubling mystery ... with a murderer lurking a little too close to home.

Caterer Faith Fairchild has a bad feeling about her father-in-law's decision to celebrate his seventieth birthday with a family reunion ski week at the Pine Slopes resort in Vermont -- the Fairchilds' favorite getaway since Faith's husband, the Reverend Thomas Fairchild, was a toddler. At first her unease seems unfounded -- until Faith comes across a corpse on one of the cross-country trails, the apparent victim of a heart attack. Then one catastrophe follows another: the mysterious disappearance of the Pine Slopes' master chef, a malicious prank at the sports center, a break-in at the Fairchild condo, the sabotage of a chairlift. And when a fatal "accident" with the snow-making machines stains the slopes blood red, Faith realizes she'll have to work fast to solve a murderous puzzle -- because suddenly not only are the reunion and the beloved resort's future in jeopardy . . . but Faith's life is as well.

"This whodunit provides fully satisfying fare for a cold winter's night around the fire"—from the Agatha Award-winning author of The Body in the Moonlight ( Publishers Weekly). Caterer and small-town minister's wife Faith Fairchild might never have accepted the job teaching a course on Cooking for Idiots at Mansfield Academy had it not been for Daryl Martin. An African-American student at the prestigious prep school, Daryl has lately become the target of a series of vicious and anonymous racial attacks—and Faith is determined to put an end to the injustice. But Mansfield, she finds, is a seething cauldron of secrets, academic in-fighting, and unspoken rules that complicate her task. When someone tampers with her classroom cooking ingredients—and then the remains of her prime suspect are discovered smoldering in a campus bonfire—she realizes that a monstrous evil is stalking both Daryl and the school. And suddenly Faith's own life is in serious jeopardy as well! "Skillful sleuthing . . . bon appetit." — The Tampa Tribune "Faith's fans are sure to be pleased with another of the author's always readable stories." — Kirkus Reviews "A deservedly popular series." — Library Journal

Something was very wrong on Sanpere this summer . . . To escape the misery of a sweltering August in Aleford, Massachusetts, caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild and her family head for their cottage on Maine's peaceful Sanpere Island in Penobscot Bay. But things have changed since their last visit. An aggressive developer is moving forward on plans that will destroy the unique ambience of the island, infuriating residents. Tensions are running dangerously high, and soon murder rears its hideous head. Faith discovers a corpse while exploring the grounds of Sanpere's historic lighthouse. With fear running rampant and volatile emotions approaching the detonation point, the intrepid sleuth must track down a killer for the sake of a friend and the island she loves.

A "savory" mystery featuring a crime-solving caterer and a murder at an art museum, from the Agatha Award–winning author ( Publishers Weekly). Faith's catering business has been slow with the downturn of the economy, so when her friend Patsy Avery proposes that she take over the café at Aleford's Ganley Art Museum, it seems like a not-to-be-missed opportunity. And Patsy has an ulterior motive—she discovers that the Romare Bearden piece she lent the museum has been switched with a fake and wants Faith to snoop around to find the culprit. Faith is soon enmeshed in the Ganley's murky past and present as she struggles to make connections among apparently disparate items: the fake Bearden, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, and a Jane Doe corpse that turns up as an unintended part of an art installation. At home, her son, now in the hell known as middle school, becomes involved in a cyberbullying escapade, and her husband wants her to morph into June Cleaver. Her investigation takes her into Boston's art scene and historic Beacon Hill, as well as into the lives behind the façade of the Ganley's very proper board of trustees. But she is at her wit's—and almost dead—end, as the killer strikes again, and again . . . "Intellect and wit shine through in every line of The Body in the Gallery . . . Hungry readers, enjoy!" —Diane Mott Davidson Includes recipes!

The Body in the Basement, the sixth volume in Katherine Hall Page's cozy mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild Pix Miller, Faith Fairchild's next-door neighbor, expects to find more than a hole in the ground when she goes to check on the progress of the summer cottage the Fairchilds are having built on Maine's Sanpere Island. She expects a concrete foundation. What she doesn't expect is a very dead body wrapped in a very valuable antique quilt! The deceased is a local handyman with a suspiciously lucrative sideline in antiques. Sharing her friend Faith's inquisitive nature, Pix resolves to restore Sanpere's shattered peace. But by digging too deeply the determined Ms. Miller just might be arranging another burial — her own!

An award-winning cozy author "provides an abundance of . . . vividly detailed food, a veritable host of characters, and just a bit of froth" ( Library Journal). Hollywood has come to town—and Faith Fairchild has to feed it! Hired to cater meals for the movie crew that is filming a modern-day version of The Scarlet Letter in the tiny New England village of Aleford, Faith is eager to treat the talented tantrum-throwers to the best of her culinary delights. But an accusation that her famous Black Bean Soup is poison has left a bad taste in Faith's mouth. Her exploration into the source of the nasty slander leads the amateur investigator behind the scenes to a shocking off-camera murder. And suddenly more than Faith's reputation is at stake—her life itself could end up on the cutting room floor "Sprightly, with a light dusting of satire." — Kirkus Reviews "A New England ambience that's irresistable." — The Hartford Courant "If you enjoy a lively read, you're sure to like The Body in the Cast. The story really sparkles." — Romantic Times Magazine "Spirited characterization and energetic plotting." — Publishers Weekly "Readers will find treasures aplenty in these fast-flying pages." — The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS

"Former Manhattan caterer Faith Fairchild and her family find mystery in Lyons, France in this engrossing adventure" in the beloved cozy series ( Publishers Weekly). Satisfying her hunger for epicurean adventure in the French provinces, small town caterer and minister's wife Faith Fairchild decides to throw the perfect dinner party. But during cleanup after the last guest has departed her gastronomical triumph, she encounters something neither expected nor welcome: a dead body lying in her vestibule. Unfortunately it doesn't help la belle americaine's credibility when the corpse vanishes before the local gendarmes arrive. But Faith realizes that, though the police refuse to take her seriously, a killer just might. And if she doesn't get to the bottom of this fiendish French conundrum, Faith's successful feast could end up being her last.

A minister's wife is determined to find out who's preying on the residents of a New England retirement home in this acclaimed cozy mystery series. Minister's wife, sometime sleuth, and culinary artist Faith Sibley Fairchild is intrigued by rumors of mysterious doings at Hubbard House—an elegant, secluded retirement home for the well-heeled Yankees of Aleford, Massachusetts. Determined to do some surreptitious snooping, she joins the pricey retreat's flu-depleted kitchen staff, only to witness an aging resident collapse face-first into a bowl of Faith's hot and savory bouillon. Faith barely has time to ponder the suspicious death before a blackmailing drug dealer turns up dead in her bedroom! Now one thing is clear to the amateur investigator: murder doesn't just happen at Hubbard—it's the house specialty. And Faith's own demise might very well be the next item on the menu.

Amateur sleuth Faith Sibley Fairchild is summering on Sanpere Island off the coast of Maine when she stumbles on a body while walking on the beach.

The bell has tolled for a sharp-tongued bride-to-be in the first novel in the "highly entertaining" Agatha Award–winning series ( Booklist). During her years in New York City, Faith Fairchild was convinced she'd seen pretty much everything. But the transplanted caterer/minister's wife was unprepared for the surprises awaiting her in the sleepy Massachusetts village of Aleford. And she's especially taken aback by the dead body of a pretty young thing she discovers stashed in the church's belfry. The victim, Cindy Shepherd, was well-known locally for her acid tongue and her jilted beaux, which created a lot of bad blood and more than a few possible perpetrators—including her luckless fiancé, who had neither an alibi nor a better way to break off the engagement. Faith thinks it's terribly unfair that the police have zeroed in on the hapless boyfriend, so she sets out to uncover the truth. But digging too deeply into the sordid secrets of a New England village tends to make the natives nervous. And an overly curious big-city lady can become just another small-town statistic in very short order . . . "A humorous and entertaining addition to the murder-in-the-village genre." — Booklist "Sparkles like a Yankee pond on a bright autumn day." — The Washington Post Book World "[Page's] young sleuth is a charmer." — The New York Times Book Review