The Courtship Gift

Julie Parsons exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel, Mary, Mary, which, according to The New York Times, "takes the psychological suspense thriller to places it rarely dares to go." Now, in The Courtship Gift, a shy female entomologist is pitted against a murderous maniac. Dublin on a cold April night. Anna Neale arrives home late and discovers her husband, David, dead in his study, his face a rictus mask of agony. Anna gazes with disbelief at the telltale marks on his skin. It seems David died from anaphylactic shock induced by a bee sting. But it is not bee season, and he has known all his life that he is allergic to the bee's poison. Anna finds a peculiar package addressed to David and begins to suspect that he was murdered. As the weeks pass, Anna learns that nothing in her life with David had been as it seemed. In death, her husband is an utter stranger to her. She is now alone, defenseless, and feels herself falling apart. This is just what attracts the handsome and sympathetic man who calls himself Matthew Makepiece. Matthew has been watching for months, waiting for his opportunity, orbiting her quiet world in increasingly constricting circles. As she gets to know him, Anna senses danger. Ultimately, she realizes her own life is in jeopardy and has no choice but to do what no one believed her capable of. Julie Parsons has created another female protagonist of extraordinary strength and psychological resources.