The Paramour's Daughter: A Maggie MacGowen Mystery (The Maggie MacGowen Mysteries Book 7)

Just a few hours before she is murdered, a foreign stranger claims she is a close relative of investigative filmmaker Maggie MacGowen. It is a truism that “it’s a wise child who knows its father.” The same can apply to a mother, since we must believe and take for granted as true what our family tells us about our own early years. But what if you “remember” places you’ve never been, speak a language you’ve never been taught? What if your nearest and dearest are all involved in a conspiracy to cover up your true origins? In The Paramour’s Daughter, Maggie MacGowen is thrown into this parallel universe, trying to remember “the ghosts of comfort, fear, or love” from her earliest years. She must question everything she’s ever known about herself and her life-and deal with a large cast of previously unknown blood relatives, some of whom may not have affectionate feelings for the little girl who vanished so long ago. Especially when large sums of euros are involved.... “Edgar-winner Hornsby's enthralling seventh Maggie MacGowen mystery  takes the documentary filmmaker to France. . . . Readers will almost be able to taste the food and drink the author so vividly describes.” -Publishers Weekly (7/19/10)

just A Few Hours Before She Is Murdered, A Foreign Stranger Claims She Is A Close Relative Of Investigative Filmmaker Maggie Macgowen. It Is A Truism That It's A Wise Child ...

publishers Weekly

edgar-winner Hornsby's Enthralling Seventh Maggie Macgowen Mystery (after 2009's In The Guise Of Mercy) Takes The Documentary Filmmaker To France. Late One Night In The Parking Lot Of A Malibu, Calif., Supermarket, An Erratic Old Woman With A Pretty Little Accent Accosts Maggie, Claiming That Maggie Is Her Daughter, Marguerite. Later That Same Night, The Woman Turns Up Dead From A Hit-and-run. During A Visit To Her Mother In Berkeley, Maggie Learns A 43-year-old Secret From Her Mother, Who Tearfully Confesses That A Beautiful Young French Scientist Named Isabelle Had A Baby, Marguerite, Whom Isabelle Gave Up To Maggie's Parents. In France, Maggie Becomes The Center Of An Inheritance Controversy Involving Her Birth Mother's Family, Including Cousins, An Uncle, And A Half-brother, Each Of Whom Has Hidden Motives. Murder Follows A Funeral At The Family's Palatial Normandy Estate. Readers Will Almost Be Able To Taste The Food And Drink The Author So Vividly Describes. (sept.)

Did you ever fantasize that an unknown relative has died and left you a fortune? Be careful what you wish for. When a stranger insists she's kin to filmmaker Maggie MacGowen, Maggie assumes the woman is what the LAPD calls a "5150," a mentally disturbed person. But after the stranger dies, Maggie discovers that she has an extended family in France-all of whom have "expectations" for their share of the inheritance. It's a legacy tangled in a complicated weave of issues, history, desires, legalities, and financial desperation. If the elders of this apparently genteel family did not hesitate to slit the throats of German occupiers to save their estate during the last war, to what lengths will they and their heirs go to claim their birthright? Traveling to France, Maggie is thrown into this parallel universe, trying to remember "the ghosts of comfort, fear, or love from her earliest years. She must question everything she's ever known about herself and her life-and deal with a large cast of previously unknown blood relatives, some of whom may not have affectionate feelings for the little girl who vanished so long ago. Especially when large sums of euros are involved.... Filmmaker Maggie MacGowen discovers that she was adopted and that her birth mother has left her relatives in France and a tangled inheritance