The wounded snake

Amateur sleuths Hilary Masters and Veronica Taylor face a real-life murder mystery at a crime writing weekend.

Is a dark conspiracy unfolding on a West Country estate?Friends Hilary Masters and Veronica Taylor are eager to embark upon their weekend-long masterclass in crime writing at the evocative, fourteenth-century Morland Abbey, hoping to gain inspiration for their own novels.

The queen of crime fiction herself, Dinah Halsgrove, is the guest of honour, giving the opening talk.

But when Dinah suddenly falls ill later that evening, the pair can't help being suspicious.

Has her mysterious illness been staged by the organisers, or does someone in their writing group have murderous intent?A series of sinister incidents draw Hilary and Veronica into a real-life murder mystery as gripping as any bestselling crime novel, but the biggest twist is yet to come . . . Can they separate fact from fiction to solve a deadly puzzle?