Murder on the Brandywine

The Emily Menotti Mysteries #4

by Maryellen Winkler

Alicia is a beautiful young woman on the verge of having her dreams come true. Engaged to be married, she is also involved with a revolutionary group that plans to strike a blow against the evils of the banking industry, an industry operating with little restraint in the late 1990's. One Sunday morning, however, she is found murdered in Brandywine Creek State Park.

Alicia works for Mirety Bank, a major player in the predatory lending practices of the day. Also employed there is Emily Menotti, the woman who discovers the body. Emily believes the woman's death is tied to a tattoo of an owl on Alicia's back. As Emily investigates, Alicia's fiancée, her brother, and various members of the bank come under her scrutiny.

Reminisce with Emily about her favorite memories of Wilmington and the Brandywine Valley as she tracks down the killer and ends up fighting for both her job and her life.

194 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2018

About the author

Maryellen Winkler is an American writer who specializes in ghostly mysteries. She is a native of Wilmington, Delaware where she has lived in and around her entire life. Her home-away-from-home is the New England landscape where she finds joy and solace in its rocky seashores and unspoiled forests.

A graduate of Ursuline Academy and the University of Delaware, she has had various careers in banking, real estate, and retail. Her true loves are reading, writing, and puzzles.

Her characters are based on her experiences as working woman, a divorcee, a stumbler at dating in her 50's and 60's, a second marriage, and later widowhood. Yet she remains fiercely optimistic and believes in the restorative powers of good friends and good food.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a murder mystery that works better as simply a Wilmington story. It's full of local landmarks, and both the protagonist and the victim work in our city's infamous corporate banking industry, which is very relevant to the plot. The characters felt shallow, however, so much that I had trouble remembering who was who because none of them stuck out. Emily enters into a troubled relationship with her male roommate, which should have been a dramatic subplot, yet the writing was so vague it seemed over before it began. She also doesn't even actually solve the case - the culprit just attacks her and confesses to everything.

[Roberta Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was cool reading this book and recognizing locations. I even found myself using my hand as if figuring which way to turn to get to locations.

Plenty of twist & turns to keep you page turning.

Roberta Wilson

[Kelly Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I NEVER would have guessed the murderer!
But seriously this lady has been through SO MUCH DEATH in this one year 😂😂😂