A Body in the Woodpile: Emma Berry Mysteries, #3

By Irene Sauman

Discovery of a body threatens to delay the Mary B's race for port as water levels on the river sink dangerously low, and Emma discovers that even the dead have secrets.

Emma's concern at finding her friend Hilda's children alone in their shack on the Murray River, turns to sadness when Hilda's body is found in the woodpile that serves the riverboats. But where is their father? Emma and Daniel have no choice but to take the children along with them, despite their protests. It is soon clear they are harbouring secrets of their own, and seem intent on delaying the Mary B's progress.

While the inquest into their mother's death fails to reveal what the children know, Emma learns far more about Hilda than she ever wanted. But its Emma's handling of tensions among the Mary B's crew that once again raises Daniel's ire.

As the Mary B nears its destination, Emma finds herself at the mercy of Hilda's killer when she realises just what it is the children have been hiding. Will the final revelation untangle the past and set them free?

"A Body in the Woodpile is the second in the Emma Berry series by Aussie author Irene Sauman and I thoroughly enjoyed it." Goodreads 14 July 2017

This book follows British/Australian English. A clean cozy mystery: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jakada Books
• Release date: Jan 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780645034929

Irene Sauman

Irene is a retired historian living in Perth, Western Australia. She grew up and went to school in New South Wales by the mighty Murray River, the setting for her cosy mystery books. Now living in Western Australia, she has three children and four grandchildren, and a sister who beta reads her books for plot holes and to see how quickly she can solve the mystery. So far she's not winning. When not writing, Irene reads, watches tennis, is an awesome croquet player (old age and treachery will defeat youth and enthusiasm every time), and has a reasonably green thumb, which means very little dies in her garden, unlike in her cosy mysteries. Her favourite authors-past are Anthony Trollope, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie. She read heaps of modern authors too, of course, not restricted to those who write cosy mysteries, but they are a favourite.