‘Durant Mysteries’ series blends psychological insight with suspense and vintage glamour

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Authors Laura Giebfried and Stanley R. Wells are the creators behind the “Durant Mysteries” series. They say the books merge “sharp psychological insight with high-stakes suspense, vintage glamour, and richly layered storytelling.”

Book Summaries:

“The Marlowe Murders”: 1955, Exeter Island. After being wrongfully dismissed from her graduate program mere months before completing her PhD, Alexandra Durant begrudgingly accepts a job as a maid from John Marlowe, the powerful dean of her department. When she arrives on the private island, though, it’s to find that her employer, Mrs. Marlowe, is dead, and John Marlowe, his siblings, and a mysterious guest have gathered for her wake and burial. Desperate to find out why she was really brought there, Alexandra confronts John Marlowe, only for him to be murdered hours later. With the phone lines cut and the ferry set loose into the ocean, Alexandra finds herself trapped in the house with the bickering, greedy family, all of whom have a motive for John’s murder. And when it seems clear that Alexandra is going to be the murderer’s scapegoat for the grisly crime, she realizes she must use her near-perfect memory and her knowledge of the human mind to uncover who really killed John Marlowe before she becomes the next victim.

“Saint Peter’s Tear”: Shortly before departing on a voyage to attend the marriage of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, Adelaide Dabney, a wealthy, 90-year-old widow, begins receiving threatening messages warning her not to go. Determined not to miss the greatest wedding of the century, Mrs. Dabney hires Alexandra Durant, a brilliant former psychology postdoctoral candidate, to figure out who’s threatening her – and why. Alexandra believes the task will be simple. After all, who would want to kill a 90-year-old woman who’s already divvied up her wealth amongst her beneficiaries? Yet when Alexandra boards the RMS Queen Mary en route from New York to Cherbourg, it becomes clear that the task is far more complicated. A girl leaps from the ship and disappears into the water. A second blackmailer joins the first. A man is poisoned at a private dinner. And as the body count rises, the killer turns their sights onto Alexandra herself.

More information

The third book in the series, “The Devil Plays the Harp,” will be released later this year. The authors say it will mark Alexandra’s evolution from amateur sleuth to experienced detective.

For more information, visit DurantMysteries.com

“The Marlowe Murders” and “Saint Peter’s Tear” can be purchased through Amazon.