Gail Oust Libri

The Bunco Babes are a group of hip retirees who love to play bunco- and addictive game of luck.But someone's luck is about to run out...For good.When Claudia Connors returns from Vegas with a new husband, actor Lance Ledeaux, Kate McCall and the other Bunco Babes are shocked. To make matters worse, Lance has plans to direct, produce, and star in a play he has written-and he wants all the Babes to participate.When he's killed during rehearsal with a pistol, all eyes are on Claudia, who is literally holding the smoking gun. Anyone could have loaded the real bullets, but its up to Kate to prove Claudia's innocence-or her newly widowed friend will be throwing dice behind bars.

Piper Prescott, proprietor of Spice It Up!, has persuaded Doug Winters, the mild-mannered vet she's been dating, to demonstrate Indian cuisine at her shop. But before Doug's presentation of classic chicken curry is completed, Ned Feeney, local handyman, bursts in with news of a murder. Sandy Granger, the director of a local production of Steel Magnolias, was found strangled in the third-floor balcony of the Brandywine Creek Opera House. Sandy, it seems, had not endeared herself to cast or crew. Complaints about her ran the gamut from her management style to her lack of people skills. Everyone connected with the production falls under suspicion, including Piper Prescott's BFF, Reba Mae Johnson, who made it well known how unhappy she is that she was cut from the cast. When the spotlight for the dastardly deed shines on Reba Mae, Piper rushes to her friend's defense. Who among Sandy's detractors was angry enough to wrap a silk scarf around her neck-- and pull tight? Will Piper succeed in solving the case before she becomes the killer's encore performance? And will she ever learn just how to prepare the perfect curry? As delicious as it is charming, this entry in Gail Oust's mouth-watering Spice Shop Mysteries, [this book] is sure to delight both old fans and new