A Well-Timed Murder (Agnes Luthi Mysteries)
International Mystery
2nd in Series
Minotaur Books (February 6, 2018)
Hardcover: 352 pages

Synopsis

Swiss-American police officer Agnes Lüthi is on leave in Lausanne, Switzerland, recovering from injuries she sustained in her last case, when an old colleague invites her to the world’s premier watch and jewelry trade show at the grand Messe Basel Exhibition Hall. Little does Agnes know, another friend of hers, Julien Vallotton, is at the same trade show—and he’s looking for Agnes. Julien Vallotton was friends with Guy Chavanon, a master of one of Switzerland’s oldest arts: watchmaking. Chavanon died a week ago, and his daughter doesn’t believe his death was accidental. Shortly before he died, Chavanon boasted that he’d discovered a new technique that would revolutionize the watchmaking industry, and she believes he may have been killed for it. Reluctantly, Agnes agrees to investigate his death. But the world of Swiss watchmaking is guarded and secretive, and before she realizes it, Agnes may be walking straight into the path of a killer.

Tracee de Hahn’s next mystery, A Well-Timed Murder, is another magnetic mystery that will engross readers from the opening page to the stunning conclusion.

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Guest Post

Today we welcome Tracee to StoreyBook Reviews and she shares with us what inspired this book.

A book about watches? Not exactly. Although I did start writing A Well-Timed Murder with watches on my mind. More accurately I wanted to showcase Baselworld, the amazing annual watch, jewelry and gemstone extravaganza. I strolled through the show, putting myself in the mind of a criminal, then in the mind of my protagonist, Agnes Lüthi. Theft? Murder? Both easily imaginable.

But A Well-Timed Murder is also about timing outside of time-keeping watches. So much in life depends on timing – we have all imagined what would have happened if we’d arrived a moment earlier at the scene of a traffic accident if we’d taken a different class in college and not met the man we married. How does timing play into love and life? How does it affect what product sells and what languishes on the shelves?

When a well-known watchmaker dies in A Well-Timed Murder, Agnes is pulled into the investigation by her friend, the aristocratic Julien Vallotton. Delving into the world of precision and luxury timepieces, time and timing take on more importance. Was it Guy Chavanon’s involvement with time that caused his death, or was it a mistake of timing?

To find Chavanon’s killer Agnes steeps herself in the roots of the watchmaking industry, all the while wondering if she is making a mistake by ignoring where he died, the seemingly innocuous boarding school his son attends. My husband’s influence can be felt in the introduction of a boarding school. He started at a Swiss boarding school when he was barely nine, a bit young in my opinion (again, timing!). I’ve enjoyed our trips to his school to visit former teachers and reunite with fellow students and always found it an amazing melting pot of sorts. The students come from all over the world bringing their respective languages and cultures together during the crucial teenage years. My fictional boarding school was another opportunity to think about timing – and while I won’t give anything away, it plays a significant role in the life of the headmistress.

Timing also plays a role in Agnes’s personal life. While she’s on the trail of the killer, her attention is pulled toward Julien Vallotton, a man who easily inhabits the world of luxury watches. They met at a significant moment in her life – a few months after the death of her husband and during her first murder case. Isn’t there a saying about relationships that start under pressure? Typically it doesn’t bode well. Agnes and Julien have a chance to test this in A Well-Timed Murder. His background and daily life are – in her mind – so far removed from hers that a relationship seems impossible. His attention plays into her insecurities and challenges her to think about the next phase of her life. A life without her husband.

Ultimately timing will play a role in Agnes’s hunt for Chavanon’s killer and in the possibility of new love. And timing will set the killer on the path of his next victim.

About the Author

Tracee de Hahn is the author of the Agnes Lüthi mysteries, which were inspired by her years living in Switzerland. Prior to writing full time she practiced architecture and was head of university alumni relations at a major west coast university. Currently, she and her Swiss-architect husband live in southwest Virginia with their Jack Russell Terriers. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America.

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Giveaway

There are 2 giveaways!

This first is a hardback copy of A Well Timed Murder (open to US residents only) that I am hosting.

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The second is a tour wide giveaway and includes a copy of the book and some swag.

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