File M for Murder: A Cornelia Upshaw and Fancy Mystery

Can a Southerner working for a temp agency truly swear off men forever? And what if her social life, consisting of working as a secretary and reading murder mysteries, turns real, all too real? India Edghill, who is known for her historical novels, writes a tight mystery in a very classic style. The mystery is rather in the vein of PD James or Dorothy Sayers, smart, humorous and with a good dash of nasty. Highly recommended for mystery fans looking for a new author.

Following the death of her husband a southern Peter Pan, Cornelia Upshaw and her three year old daughter Heather relocate from Savannah to live with her artist sister in Manhattan. Not needing to pay rent, Cornelia works as a temp for Metropolitan Office Professionals, a firm that finds her short term secretarial work and provides child care services. Cornelia currently works for Dayborne Ventures Executive Vice President J. Abercrombie Davis, a control freak of the worst order. Half way through her six week stint, Davis' office remains closed all day until Cornelia tries to reach him via the intercom. When they go into his office they find him dead. Lieutenant Victor Kosciusko and Detective Charlie Morton investigate when the autopsy reveals that the deceased was poisoned. Victor and Cornelia surprise themselves because of an immediate attraction that must remain on hold until the investigation is completed, but a killer stalks the office with Cornelia on the short list for interfering with another murder attempt. This exhilarating investigative tale takes its time to introduce Cornelia, the center that holds the tale together. Once the murder occurs, the story line takes off on two planes that of a classic police procedural aided by an amateur sleuth who learned what to do by reading mystery novels. The cast makes this Manhattan murder mystery a fine novel and hopefully as India Edghill proves once again no one does heroic females better than she does. Harriet Klausner