Just Desserts
By Roderic Jeffries
Basking in the warmth of the Mallorquin sunshine sounds like paradise.
But despite the close-knit community, sandy beaches and crisp sea-breeze, the town of Llueso is far from peaceful.
As news breaks of the sudden death of one of the town’s quieter residents, Miriam Spiller, Inspector Enrique Alvarez is disturbed by the community’s content at dismissing her death as an unfortunate accident.
An isolated and hermit-like young woman, she had clearly had too much gin that evening and, in her drunken haze, had slipped over the balcony.
Or perhaps her lack of friends, beauty or success became too much and drove her to suicide.
The problem is that nobody seems to care.
With so few leads to follow, Alvarez must work twice as hard to decipher which of those who knew Miriam knew her habits well enough to prove that her death was no accident.
An obvious lead would be her fiancé, Frank Finnister, an unsuccessful novelist who relied on Miriam for money in order to avoid deportation.
Then there was Carol Davidson, Finnister’s mistress, who made no secret of her longing for Frank’s affections.
And what about Agnes Newbolt, Miriam’s employer, who had always treated her with contempt?
Brenda Stewart, Miriam’s nearest association to a friend, makes her suspicions well known to Inspector Alvarez. But whilst he expects to find crime at the heart of this unexplained story, what he doesn’t account for is the impact it will have on his personal desires.
Just Desserts is a thrilling murder mystery, perfect for fans of classic crime-fiction.
Roderic Jeffries was born in London in 1926 and went to sea in 1943. Six years later he left that trade to become a lawyer. He again changed profession to become a writer. Since 1951, he has written over one hundred and sixty novels under his own name and several other pseudonyms. He began his career by writing books featuring his father’s character, Blackshirt, a popular detective whose adventures have appeared in print for many decades. In time Jeffries branched out and began to write a variety of mystery novels under his own name and several pen names, including Peter Alding and Jeffrey Ashford.
