Books like Hallowed Murder by Ellen Hart

Jane Lawless, a Minneapolis restaurateur, is at a personal crossroads: her lover has left and she is still healing from a violent attack. With no one to celebrate the holidays with, Jane begrudgingly agrees to accompany her good friend Cordelia Thorn on a holiday trip to Minnesota. Cordelia’s estranged sister, the famed Broadway star Octavia Thorn, invites them to her wedding. Octavia has married three times already, but her choice of a fourth husband, the reclusive and elderly retired Hollywood director Roland Lester, raises questions about the nature of their relationship. When bodies start to drop, Jane realizes the tragedy may stem from something deeper and more sinister than mere love. As she delves into film history, Jane uncovers unsettling ties between Roland and an unsolved murder from forty years ago. She discovers that unraveling this cold case could expose the true motive behind Octavia’s latest marriage—and the dangerous consequences that may follow.

First publish date: 1989