Murder for the Greater Good

By Jackie Keswick

First came the flowers: A striking bouquet of white lilies with one black and one scarlet bloom at its heart, delivered anonymously one hour before Jeremy Ribold’s funeral.

Then came the rumours: Ribold’s death hadn’t been an accident. And Ribold’s son had fainted at the sight of the flowers because he knew more than he admitted.

When she found the press laying siege to her funeral parlour, and the police came to quiz her about the flowers, Cassandra Baker decided to investigate.

Because she’d seen this style of bouquet before.

Twice.

A mystery short story set in a funeral parlour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jackie Keswick
• Release date: Apr 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005914325

Jackie Keswick

Jackie writes a mix of suspense, action adventure, fantasy and history, loves stories with layers, plots with twists and characters with hidden depths. She adores friends to lovers stories, and tales of unexpected reunions, second chances, and men who write their own rules. She blogs about English history and food, has a thing for green eyes, and is a great believer in making up soundtracks for everything, including her characters and the cat.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Murder for the Greater Good © 2020 Jackie Keswick.

Cover Art © 2020 Jackie Keswick

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

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Blurb

First came the flowers:

A striking bouquet of white lilies with one black and one scarlet bloom at its heart, delivered anonymously one hour before Jeremy Ribold’s funeral.

Then came the rumours:

Ribold’s death hadn’t been an accident. And Ribold’s son had fainted at the sight of the flowers because he knew more than he admitted.

When she found the press laying siege to her funeral parlour, and the police came to quiz her about the flowers, Cassandra Baker decided to investigate.

Because she’d seen this style of bouquet before.

Twice.

Murder for the Greater Good

The courier delivered the flowers exactly one hour before the start of the funeral service. A simple black vase held a magnificent bouquet of white lilies in a crown of deep green ferns, but what stopped my breath were the two blooms at the heart of the arrangement. They were lilies, but one flower was scarlet, while the other was black.

In the three years since I'd taken over my parents’ funeral parlour, I had seen this style of bouquet only twice. Both times, the flowers had arrived without a card, and we never found out who’d sent these very distinctive tributes. This third bouquet was like the others: skilfully arranged and sent anonymously.

I signed for the delivery, then carried the vase to our largest chapel. The deceased was a local businessman with an extensive family whose members made the news as often as