Jean Mcdowall

Sunday at Seven Jean Mcdowall

Shortly after arriving at work in the Concord College Alumni Relations Department on a rainy Monday morning, Olivia Barnes learns that a birdwatcher at the nearby marsh has stumbled upon a body. The dead woman, the police tell Olivia, is Elizabeth Rourke, the head the Alumni Relations Department. Within twenty-four hours the police find enough evidence to charge Boomer Watkins, the town's general handyman and occasional drunk, with murder. Unfortunately, Boomer's arrest doesn't explain why a woman like Elizabeth was alone at the marsh on a cold November night. Nor does anyone seem interested in Elizabeth's strange behavior in the weeks before her death: the bizarre arguments with her estranged husband and an unexplained out-of-town trip. When there is a break-in at the Alumni Office and after Olivia is knocked down on her front steps by an intruder, she decides to find out for herself just how Elizabeth died--and who killed her. Mark Edwards, the new editor of the Concord Chronicle, volunteers to help her, and Olivia is surprised to discover that she's attracted to him. Over the course of six days, Olivia makes some startling discoveries about Elizabeth. When she gets too close to the secret that someone killed to hide, Olivia herself becomes a target for the murderer.