Murder at the Luther

On New Year’s Eve 1952, reporter-turned-detective Sydney Lockhart covers festivities at the historic Luther Hotel in Texas. When she’s found dancing with a dead man, Sydney must clear her name before the killer strikes again.

With her fingerprints on the murder weapon and a police chief with his own agenda, Sydney ushers in the New Year behind bars. Soon there is another body, more damning fingerprints, and a crazy Cajun who’s been paid to feed Sydney to the alligators. Things get worse when cousin Ruth comes to town with a problem even Sydney can’t solve.
The largest book group in the country, The Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club, chose Murder at the Luther, as a bonus book.

“Sydney Lockhart and her cousin Ruth are back in another high-action, hilarious mystery named after a hotel. Once again, Sydney gets herself into a mess that seems to deepen with every attempt to extricate herself. She’s arrested, kidnapped twice, and shot at. And I’m leaving out the exciting parts! … Kathleen Kaska surprises us not only with the murderer but with the motivation.”
—Author Dan Andriacco

“Confident, free-spirited redhead Sydney Jean Lockhart has shunned the entrapments of marriage and domesticity in order to maintain her independence and pursue her career as a reporter.
Attending the Luther Hotel’s “Neptune Rising” themed ball on New Year’s Eve, she finds herself in the midst of party revelers, champagne, and dancing when a murder occurs, and Sydney is discovered standing over the victim with his blood on her hands.

Pursued by Police Chief Lynol Fogmore, a cigar-chewing bulldog of a man hungry for a fast arrest and conviction, Sydney finds herself his number-one suspect. In a race against time to prove her innocence, she sets out to solve the case and unmask the real murderer.

Kathleen Kaska’s book is a neatly written, fast-paced, and entertaining thriller. Her central character, Sydney Lockhart, is a feisty, strong, and believable heroine embroiled in a charmingly nostalgic murder mystery reminiscent of the classic Agatha Christie-style whodunits that would also successfully transfer to stage and screen.
—Author John Walker, Reviewer for Suspense Magazine