Gerard Hardy's Misfortune: A sea-change mystery: 3

According to local legend the historic Royal hotel in the Victorian coastal town of Queenscliff is haunted. Having served as both a mental asylum and a morgue in the early days it could hardly fail to be but a bizarre murder in the hotels basement puts a decidedly eerie spin on things.The victim is an academic obsessed with spiritualism the tarot and the towns most famous literary resident Henry Handel Richardson. From the outset the local knowledge and unorthodox methods of Queenscliffs police officers Chris Blackie and Anthea Merritt are ridiculed by the bull-necked Detective Inspector Masterson from Geelongs CIU. And yet hard-nosed police investigation practices seem ill-equipped to counter the otherworldly influences at play.What DI Masterson believes is an open and shut case turns out to be anything but.Anthea began creating a large cross with the cards. She looked up and smiled. I tell you whats ironic. I got into trouble for buying my own tarot pack and now Mrs Marrs using the tarot to bamboozle the inspector. Im the only one whos done her homework and knows what the cards mean.Gerard Hardys Misfortune joins Through a Camels Eye and The Swan Island Connection as the latest most intriguing instalment in Dorothy Johnstons sea-change mystery series.