The Witch’s Child
By Susan Van Kirk
An Endurance Mystery
Retired teacher Grace Kimball is elated when former student Fiona Mackenzie returns to Endurance to make burial plans for her recently deceased mother, Sybil Mackenzie. But this will be no ordinary funeral because Fiona’s mother—a self-proclaimed witch—died in prison following a sensational Endurance murder trial ten years earlier. Detective TJ Sweeney doesn’t need witchcraft or visions to know Sybil Mackenzie’s presence—dead or alive—will rekindle anger in the residents of the small town.
When the judge from Sybil’s trial is poisoned, the evidence points toward Fiona, the witch’s child. Who else has a garden full of poisonous plants? Who else lost her mother to ten years in prison? Who knows the kind of dark magic the witch’s child can create? Her mother put a curse on all involved in her trial. Has Fiona returned to get revenge?
TJ finds other suspects ripe with motives to murder. Add vicious whispers and malicious rumors in the local coffee shops, pushy reporters looking for a story, and clashing opinions on social media. The town of Endurance is like a tinderbox just waiting for someone to light a match. Can Grace and TJ find the judge’s killer before that match is struck?
Best Selling Author
Susan Van Kirk
I began writing at age sixty ACL [After Children Left.] Publishing a memoir about teaching over
four decades called The Education of a Teacher (Including Dirty Books and Pointed Looks), I
followed the axiom that we first write what we know. Once I retired from teaching in 2011, I
decided to write mysteries. Why? I had devoured the 1500+ pages of Sherlock Holmes in fifth
grade because it seemed like the next step after Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, and the Hardy Boys.
After that, I read hundreds of mysteries. Now, I’ve created a series called The Endurance
Mysteries and peopled it with folks I love. Mostly. It’s a cozy series about a retired English
teacher in a small town who helps her former student—now Detective TJ Sweeney—solve
murders. Add a little love interest and a gloomy mansion, and I’m rolling. When my publisher
folded their mystery line, I moved in a new direction, writing the first Sweet Iron mystery
starring Beth Russell. A genealogist and historical researcher, she provides fertile ground for my love of history, and she still has many branches
to explore on her family tree.
The Book Shelf
Harlequin Worldwide Books
View a full list of Harlequin Mysteries.
Original Author Series
View a full list of the original author series.
Other Books
A Death at Tippit Pond
Four decades after the tragic murder of Melanie Tippitt, the tiny town of Sweet Iron is rocked by new revelations in that haunting case. Ghosts, lies, long-buried secrets …
The Locket
TJ Sweeney gets the spotlight in this Endurance novella about a murder victim in the 1940s. It was the Big Band Era, romance was in the air, and tragedy was close at hand.
Three May Keep A Secret
“…if two of them are dead.” Retired teacher, Grace Kimball, discovers the truth of Ben Franklin’s aphorism when her quiet town of Endurance is rocked by a murder or two.
Marry in Haste
“ …repent at leisure.” Two wives—two murders a century apart—and a shocking secret connects them. Grace Kimball investigates, hoping to save a life.
Death Takes No Bribes
Who poisoned Endurance High School Principal John Hardy? Death is stalking the halls of Grace’s old workplace, and Grace and TJ Sweeney are only a few steps ahead.
The best cozy mystery genre reads are steeped in small-town atmosphere and interpersonal connections. A Death at Tippitt Pond … [is] … an absorbing mystery fueled by history, emotional attachments, and physical danger.
–D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
Van Kirk’s appealing mystery debut [Three May Keep a Secret]… introduces recently retired
teacher, Grace Kimball. Cozy fans will find a lot to like.
-Publishers Weekly
Small town America has never been made more real … an enthralling mystery involving two
strong women a hundred years apart. Well plotted and a very interesting read.