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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
Chapter ten
Chapter eleven
Chapter twelve
Chapter thirteen
Chapter fourteen
Chapter fifteen
Chapter sixteen
Chapter seventeen
Chapter eighteen
Chapter nineteen
Chapter twenty
Chapter twenty-one
Chapter twenty-two
Chapter twenty-three
Chapter twenty-four
Chapter twenty-five
Chapter twenty-six
Chapter twenty-seven
Chapter twenty-eight
Chapter twenty-nine
Chapter thirty
Chapter thirty-one
Chapter thirty-two
Chapter thirty-three
Chapter thirty-four
Chapter thirty-five
Epilogue
A HELPING HAND FOR A PAINTED LADY
DECORATING TIPS THAT SELL
Praise for DECORATED TO DEATH
“A fine murder puzzle.” —ReviewingTheEvidence.com
“Jean is someone you’d like to be friends with . . . [and] the supporting cast of characters . . . are always entertaining. —CA Reviews
Praise for FAUX FINISHED
“Hastings, an interior designer and amateur sleuth . . . uses her innate understanding of patterns to track down a killer.” —Houston Chronicle
“Well-designed plot, lively characters . . . I read it in one sitting.”
—Sarah Graves, author of A Face at the Window
“Fans of HGTV and cozy mysteries will enjoy . . . the small town of Seville, Indiana, with all its quirky, engaging residents.”
—Leslie Caine, author of Poisoned by Gilt
“I was pleasantly surprised by this new cozy series featuring interior design. A lot of the plot includes designer tips . . . For those of you who enjoy decorating, that’s the icing on the cake in this book.” —Gumshoe Review
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Peg Marberg
FAUX Finished
decorated to death
Fatal Flip
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
FATAL FLIP
A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
printing history
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / March 2009
Copyright © 2009 by Peg Marberg.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
eISBN : 978-1-101-01961-0
BERKLEY® PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY® PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group
(USA) Inc.
This book is dedicated to all my family,
Eddie and Deb, Rich and Lisa,
Ann-Margret and Mike,
with a special tip of the hat to
my son-in-law Mike Rzyski,
who pointed me in the right direction
when I was floundering. Thanks, Mike.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I’ve said before but it’s so important
that I’ll say it again—I could not have written
this book without the aid of two people—
my husband, Ed, and my editor, Sandra Harding.
They are always there when I need them.
Thank you both from the bottom
of my heart and my inkwell.
VISITORS TO SEVILLE, INDIANA
Chapter one
Biddy McFarland peeked through the lace panels covering the side parlor’s curved, ceiling-to-floor windows that provided her with an excellent view of the house next door. The house was owned and occupied by Edith Semple, an elderly spinster. The Semple manse, like the McFarland manse, was Victorian in style and constructed during the 1890s building boom that occurred in our small central Indiana town of Seville.
Almost all the houses in Seville, regardless of age, have been the recipients of tender, loving care with very few exceptions, the most glaring one being the Semple manse. The crumbling old Victorian looked like something out of an early Hollywood horror flick.
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