THE BODY IN THE GARDEN

Perfect for fans of Tasha Alexander and Rhys Bowen, Katharine Schellman's novels feature Regency widow Lily Adler - done with mourning and returning to a society that frowns on an independent woman determined to create a meaningful life for herself without a husband.

London 1815. Though newly-widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She's no stranger to the glittering world of London's upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn't expect is the dead body in Lady Walter's garden. Lily overheard the man just minutes before he was shot: young, desperate, and attempting blackmail. But she's willing to leave the matter to the local constables--until Lord Walter bribes the investigating magistrate to drop the case. Stunned and confused, Lily realizes she's the only one with the key to catching the killer. Aided by a roguish navy captain and a mysterious heiress from the West Indies, Lily sets out to discover whether her friend's husband is mixed up in blackmail and murder. The unlikely team tries to conceal their investigation behind the whirl of London's social season, but the dead man knew secrets about people with power. Secrets that they would kill to keep hidden. Now, Lily will have to uncover the truth, before she becomes the murderer's next target. Katharine Schellman studied theatre and history at the College of William & Mary, after which she went on to dance professionally, marry her college sweetheart, and collect addresses up and down the east coast of the United States. The Body in the Garden is her debut novel, though she has previously published a variety of short fiction and essays. Katharine currently lives and writes in the mountains of Virginia, and she is still recovering from that time she worked in political consulting.