The Happy Birthday Murder (23 page)

For my son, Josh, who loves the cake, if not the birthday.

The author thanks, as always,

Ana M. Soler

and James L. V. Wegman,

without whom there would be no series.

By Lee Harris

Published by Fawcett Books:

THE GOOD FRIDAY MURDER

THE YOM KIPPUR MURDER

THE CHRISTENING DAY MURDER

THE ST. PATRICK'S DAY MURDER

THE CHRISTMAS NIGHT MURDER

THE THANKSGIVING DAY MURDER

THE PASSOVER MURDER

THE VALENTINE'S DAY MURDER

THE NEW YEAR'S EVE MURDER

THE LABOR DAY MURDER

THE FATHER'S DAY MURDER

THE MOTHER'S DAY MURDER

THE APRIL FOOLS' DAY MURDER

Even after leaving the cloistered world of St. Stephen's Convent for suburban New York State, Christine Bennett still finds time to celebrate the holy days.

Unfortunately, in the secular world the holidays seem to end in murder—and it's up to this ex-nun to discover who commits these unholy acts.

LEE
HARRIS

The Christine Bennett Mysteries

THE GOOD FRIDAY MURDER
The First Christine Bennett Mystery

Ex-nun Christine Bennett has only just begun settling into her new life in suburban New York State when she finds herself volunteering to investigate a murder that happened on Good Friday—forty years ago.

THE YOM KIPPUR MURDER

When Christine Bennett discovers that her friend, a lonely widower living on Manhattan's West Side, has been murdered, she is determined to solve the crime.

THE CHRISTENING DAY MURDER

Christine Bennett is looking forward to attending the christening of her friend's baby—until the skeletal remains of the victim from a thirty-year-old murder are found in the church basement.

THE ST. PATRICK'S DAY MURDER

Police officer Scotty McVeigh is one of New York's finest, until he is shot on St. Patrick's Day. Speculating that his murder may be connected with the deaths of other off-duty cops, Christine Bennett begins to pursue a killer.

THE CHRISTMAS NIGHT MURDER

When a priest never arrives at his Christmas night party at St. Stephen's Convent, the worried nuns invite Christine Bennett to investigate. But nothing turns up—until an old scandal involving the priest and a novice resurfaces.

THE THANKSGIVING DAY MURDER

Natalie Gordon vanished a year ago at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and still the police have no leads. Christine Bennett feels compelled to investigate Natalie's mysterious disappearance—and her equally mysterious past.

THE PASSOVER MURDER

For fifteen years, Iris Grodnick's murder during Passover has remained a troubling mystery. Christine Bennett reluctantly consents to look into it for Iris's family one last time—and soon suspects that some of the relatives are not telling her the whole truth.

THE VALENTINE'S DAY MURDER

Three friends disappear after a Valentine's night walk across frozen Lake Erie—and later two are found dead, with the third suspected of the murders. Christine Bennett is offered the difficult task of finding the third friend and proving his innocence, but when she closes in on the truth, she finds herself skating on very thin ice.

THE NEW YEAR'S EVE MURDER

On December 30th, Susan Stark mysteriously disappears after being dropped off in front of her parents' house. Christine Bennett, armed with only a few phone numbers and a photo, steps into the missing girl's life—and meets a Susan with a secret life that may have lured her to a deadly end.

THE MOTHER'S DAY MURDER

When a young woman claims to be the natural daughter of Sister Joseph, beloved Superior at St. Stephen's, Christine Bennett is appalled. But when the girl is murdered and Sister Joseph is the prime suspect, Chris frantically searches for evidence that can save Sister Joseph, her dearest friend, from a life behind bars.

THE FATHER'S DAY MURDER

At a Father's Day reunion dinner of the Morris Avenue Boys, chums since childhood, one of the men stabs to death the group's most celebrated member, novelist Arthur Wien. As Christine Bennett investigates, forty years' worth of secrets emerge, revealing a web of lies, theft, adultery, and blackmail that rivals the darkest plot of the dead man's novels.

THE PASSOVER MURDER

For his favorite charity, the high school drama club, Willard Platt fakes his own murder as an April fool stunt. But when the real thing happens later that same day, Christine Bennett investigates and finds that behind this suburban family's respectable facade, violent passions are seething.

The Christine Bennett Mysteries

by Lee Harris

Published by Fawcett Books.

Available at bookstores everywhere.