Hunt with the Hounds

By Mignon G. Eberhart

When murder descends on a small Southern town, nothing is more dangerous than telling the truth.

Ernestine Baily was killed at dusk on a cold fall day as fog and darkness rolled over Hollow Hill. Five months later, her husband, Jed, whom she accused of the crime, stands trial. But in the small Virginia town of Bedford, many question his culpability, among them the murder's lone witness: Sue Poore. Sue's testimony ensures Jed's freedom – something the local paper quickly seizes on as evidence of a scandalous romance. But beyond causing her to suffer this indignity, Sue's avowal makes her a marked woman, targeted by a local policeman as the next best suspect, and by a mysterious gunman whose second bullet may not miss.

In a town like Bedford, almost anyone can look guilty, and when Sue becomes caught between three men – two vying for her heart and one for her imprisonment – she knows that the real murderer sits quietly in their midst.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Dec 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784089740

Mignon G. Eberhart

Mignon G. Eberhart (1899-1996) wrote dozens of mystery novels over a nearly six decade-long career. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, she began writing in high school, trading English essays to her fellow students in exchange for math homework. She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University, and in the 1920s began writing fiction in her spare time, publishing her first novel, The Patient in Room 18, in 1929. With the follow-up, While The Patient Slept (1931), she won a $5,000 Scotland Yard Prize, and by the end of the 1930's was one of the most popular female mystery writers on the planet. Before Agatha Christie ever published a Miss Marple novel, Eberhart was writing romantic crime fiction with female leads. Eight of her books, including While the Patient Slept and Hasty Wedding (1938) were adapted as films. Made a Mystery Writers of America grandmaster in 1971, Eberhart continued publishing roughly a book a year until the 1980s. Her final novel Three Days for Emeralds, was published in 1988.

Reviews for Hunt with the Hounds

[booksandscones · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the Virginia hunt country, Jed Baily is on trial for the murder of his wife. His motive: he's fallen in love with Sue Poore. Sue is a Good Girl, not a femme fatale, but in a small southern town in 1950, your reputation's ruined anyway.When the jury acquits Jed, the police immediately start building their case against Sue. There is a lot of bad cop and badder cop stuff, with only the kindly sheriff willing to give Sue a break.I kept hoping Sue would pull herself together, stiffen her spine and stand up for herself, but I guess a Southern belle in 1950 was pretty much helpless and hopeless. This isn't one of Mignon Eberhart's best efforts. Death In the Fog and The House On the Roof were much better.