Short-Circuited in Charlotte

Sometimes a high-tech crime calls for a very low-tech solution, as Nick and Stella Buckley learn when they match wits with a devious and cunning killer . . . Every year the Creators' Cavalcade draws the most innovative and cutting-edge minds in science and technology, and when Nick Buckley is invited to showcase the U.S. Forest Service's new environmental initiatives, he's happy to invite his wife Stella along. The event promises to give both of them a break from the many complications of new homeownership, and the luxurious nineteenth-century estate where it's held is sure to provide a beautiful and tranquil setting for their getaway. But when the Cavalcade's founder and director is found dead and one of the participants is murdered not long after, Nick and Stella know that playtime is over and they'll have to get busy trying to corner a fiendishly clever culprit. Confronted with an eclectic mix of creators-and suspects-including a steampunk designer, a robotics engineer, a recycled materials percussionist and others, Nick and Stella know that everyone at the Cavalcade possessed the brains and technological know-how to pull off the murders. But they've got a few innovative ideas of their own for nabbing the guilty party, and the only question is whether they can put their plan into action before the killer pulls the plug on them for good . . . Praise for the Books of Amy Patricia Meade: "The first in a new series for Meade features yet another set of bright young detectives . . ." -Kirkus Reviews "Quaint characters and settings abound in this outing by New Yorker-turned-Vermonter Amy Patricia Meade." -Mystery Scene "Meade's debut will strike a chord with fanciers of Dorothy Sayers's Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane." -Publishers Weekly "If only Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart were still alive. They would be fabulous in the movie version of Meade's debut Marjorie McClelland mystery . . . Meade's kickoff mystery is a winner." -Booklist