Deadly Will

DEADLY WILL is first in the Deadly Past Mysteries, which feature history buff Millie Kirchner solving crimes that relate to various giants of American history. The first sequel to DEADLY WILL, titled DEADLY DESIGN, is about a crime related to an old house in Virginia that may have been designed by Thomas Jefferson. Later novels will feature aspects of the lives of John, Abigail, and Samuel Adams, George Washington, and others.

Synopsis:

In DEADLY WILL, a letter from a Philadelphia lawyer rocks the world of Millie Kirchner, a young single mother in Richardson, TX, who’s struggling to support her son Danny and to attend college on her meager salary as a nursing-home aide. Both Millie and Danny, the attorney’s letter says, are heirs of Nathan Henry, who died 200 years ago!

Millie is thrilled at the prospect of riches, though the letter gives no clue how much money she’ll inherit. There’s another intriguing aspect of the legacy, too: Henry based his odd will on that of his acquaintance Benjamin Franklin, a hero to history-buff Millie.   Both men left money drawing interest for two centuries after their deaths before being given to their beneficiaries. Franklin’s will designated the cities of Philadelphia and Boston to receive his accrued millions-–which actually happened in 1990-–but Henry decreed his wealth be divided among his own descendants living 200 years later.   Henry also made one addition to Franklin’s scheme, leaving a few personal items (called “keepsakes” in his will) to be distributed by lottery among his descendants.

In response to the letter’s invitation to come to Philadelphia, collect her portion of the bequest, and participate in the keepsakes lottery, Millie goes. But after she gets to the testator’s mansion, several of her fellow heirs die under mysterious circumstances. Is one of Henry’s descendants killing others to decrease the number who’ll share in the inheritance?  Or is there a less obvious motive, perhaps related to one of the valuable antique keepsakes?   Fearing she might be the next victim, Millie must solve the murders.

 Read excerpt…    from DEADLY WILL

Reviews:

“Marion Moore Hill has obviously researched antiques from Ben Franklin’s era thoroughly to add to her saucy tale.  It’s always fun to have a mansion as a backdrop for a mystery, and when there are so many well crafted characters running around, well it just makes the book hard to put down.   Hill paces the mystery nicely, and Millie is a heroine everyone can relate to.   She is a doting mother, a rueful divorcee who is afraid to enter into a new relationship, a budding intellectual who is just beginning to develop through her schooling, and a compassionate human being whose emotional attachment to an elderly resident of her nursing home is a touching story.

“DEADLY WILL has all the elements of a spine-tingling cozy: a deadly murderer lurking around the mansion; suspicious and squabbling relatives; and a darn good puzzle to solve. Excellent!”

––Shelley Glodowski, Senior Reviewer,
The Midwest Book Reviews

“Marion Moore Hill has created a charming and intelligent detective, and is especially skillful in describing the Revolutionary War-era antiques and architecture that are central to the story. She has woven an entertaining story with a premise that has danger built into every codicil.”

––Laurie Trimble,
Special Contributor, The Dallas Morning News

“In this debut of a promising new series that will incorporate different locales important to the American Revolution, Hill. . . offers a lively look at antiques dating and collecting, conveys a great sense of old Philadelphia, and blends elements of the traditional cozy with a new twist on that genre.”

––Library Journal