Newport mysteries

Have you ever visited Newport, Rhode Island? I did, some years ago, together with my sister. We decided to go there because we had read a novel by Mary Jane Clark that played in this town - and we got curious.

Next to being a seaside resort, Newport is especially famous for its 'cottages'. The rich New Yorkers at the end of the 19th century used to spent their holidays in their vacation homes, mansions one bigger and grander than the other. Families like the Astors lived there in summer.

We took our time to visit some of these mansions near the sea, and while visiting one we found some books in the museum shop. They were mysteries set in Newport and its mansions, and by the hand of Anne Marie Sutton.

Heroine of service is Caroline Kent, a young widow who lives in one of the Newport mansions. Because she can't pay the taxes anymore, she decides to make her home a bed and breakfast - but soon a murder victim is discovered. Inspector Hank Nightingale comes to inspect the case... and there is also some magic between him and Caroline.

This first novel in the series is called Murder Stalks a Mansion. The next volume is Gilded Death and recently a third volume is available. The title of it is Keep My Secret. They are lovely reads, and especially if you have been to Newport they are fine reads for a lonely evening.