Cards Of Condolence
(2025)(The second book in the Verses & Victims Mystery series)
A novel by Hailey Hartley
Nora Ashford writes greeting cards for a living, so when her boss asks her to revamp their sympathy card line, she throws herself into research—including attending local memorial services to capture authentic emotions. But the funeral of beloved guidance counselor Preston Lance feels anything but authentic. The widow checks her phone during the service, the best friend looks relieved instead of sad, and a former student mutters that Preston "got what he deserved." Nora's writer instincts tell her something is very wrong, and when she starts asking questions, she discovers that Willowbrook High School's most celebrated educator was hiding decades of dark secrets.
As Nora digs deeper with help from her quirky coworker Pepper and her scene-stealing rescue cat Hemingway, she uncovers a trail of sabotaged students, hidden bribes, and carefully buried scandals. Preston Lance wasn't the saint everyone claimed''he was a predator who destroyed futures and controlled lives. When Preston's accidental fall down the basement stairs starts looking less accidental and more like murder, Nora realizes that almost everyone in his life had a motive to want him dead. The question isn't who wanted Preston gone—it's who finally had the courage to make it happen.
From cozy cottage investigations to tense confrontations with suspects, Nora finds herself in over her head as she races to uncover the truth before the killer decides that a nosy greeting card writer asking too many questions might need a sympathy card of her own. Cards of Condolence is a witty, warmhearted cozy mystery perfect for fans of clever amateur sleuths, small-town secrets, and mysteries where the real crime might have happened long before the murder.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
As Nora digs deeper with help from her quirky coworker Pepper and her scene-stealing rescue cat Hemingway, she uncovers a trail of sabotaged students, hidden bribes, and carefully buried scandals. Preston Lance wasn't the saint everyone claimed''he was a predator who destroyed futures and controlled lives. When Preston's accidental fall down the basement stairs starts looking less accidental and more like murder, Nora realizes that almost everyone in his life had a motive to want him dead. The question isn't who wanted Preston gone—it's who finally had the courage to make it happen.
From cozy cottage investigations to tense confrontations with suspects, Nora finds herself in over her head as she races to uncover the truth before the killer decides that a nosy greeting card writer asking too many questions might need a sympathy card of her own. Cards of Condolence is a witty, warmhearted cozy mystery perfect for fans of clever amateur sleuths, small-town secrets, and mysteries where the real crime might have happened long before the murder.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Cards Of Condolence