The night in question

Eighty-seven-year-old Florrie Butterfield has lived a life full of travel and adventure, but now she's settled in nicely at Babbington Hall, a charming retirement home full of quirky residents. Florrie has struck up a friendship with Renata, Babbington's manager, whose reserved demeanor hides a thirst for love and adventure. Then, Renata falls from her third-floor window on a stormy night. Florrie is convinced that Renata was not attempting suicide; rather, this was an attempted murder. Determined to figure out what happened, Florrie enlists the help of Stanhope, another Babbington resident, and the two discover a tragic secret from Renata's past. But Florrie has a long-buried secret of her own, a traumatic event that happened when she was a teenager and left her physically and emotionally scarred. Fletcher (Eve Green, 2004) has a gift for creating memorable characters--even the minor characters have distinctive personalities and motivations--and Florrie's dogged determination to solve the mystery keeps the pages turning. Florrie's reminiscences, sprinkled throughout the book, help readers understand her past and serve as reminders that we never know what lies behind the surface. This charming blend of cozy mystery and relationship fiction will appeal to fans of Beth Morrey and Phaedra Patrick.

Fletcher (House of Glass) expertly intertwines two mysteries in this eloquent and astute tale set in a British assisted living facility. The first mystery concerns Renata Green, manager of Babbington Hall, a retirement residence in the Oxfordshire countryside. Renata's fall from her office window is witnessed by 87-year-old Florrie Butterfield, who roams the facility's grounds in her wheelchair and is "as deaf as a saucepan without her hearing aids." Residents suspect Renata jumped in a suicide attempt that has left her comatose, but Florrie, who chatted with Renata earlier in the day and found her to be uncharacteristically cheery and outgoing, believes she was murdered. Following that hunch, the octogenarian sets about investigating with the help of fellow resident and former schoolteacher Stanhope Jones. As they gather clues, Fletcher lights the fuse on the second mystery: who is Florrie, anyway? What's behind the terrible secret she has trouble even thinking about in private? And what might she learn about forgiveness from her sleuthing with Stanhope? Fletcher points those questions in poignant directions, providing her unforgettable protagonist with resonant lessons about mending the past, all while maintaining satisfying tension in the central whodunit. This gloriously uplifting mystery will stay with readers long after they've turned the final page. (Apr.)