The Glass Mask

In this Golden Age tale, a writer and his girlfriend take her daughter for a birthday outing that includes a side trip into a murder mystery. In Skeleton Key, readers were introduced to Georgine Wyeth, a widowed young mother in California who stumbled across a body and walked-she emphatically did not fall-into the arms of Todd McKinnon, a pulp novelist living in the community where the murder took place. It's now a few years later, and the couple are taking a car trip with Georgine's daughter, Barbie. On their way home they stop for what they fondly imagine will be a brief visit with a slightly peculiar family, only to be sucked into the family's extremely peculiar mystery, involving a disappeared husband, a dead old lady, and mysterious footsteps in the night . . . First published in 1944, Glass Mask is a fascinating mix of old-fashioned puzzle-mystery and a startlingly modern sensibility-that allows Todd and Georgine to travel together, for example, without the benefit of wedding rings. It's a delight.Perfect for fans of Margaret Maron and Craig RiceAn entertaining tale, and one of Offord's best. -Susan Dunlap, 1001 Midnights