Beware the East Wind

Mah Jongg buddies Marianne, Syd, Micki and Kat find themselves in the midst of another murder investigation. In Beware the East Wind by Barbara Barrett, the women attend a fundraising where a hypnotist is the featured entertainment. Kind of unusual, but they decide to go with the flow. 

When Syd's husband Trip volunteers to be a subject at the dinner they are all surprised but anxious to see what happens. Not true believers, they wonder what the volunteers will do. 

After she has the close their eyes and relax, she ask each of them to re-enact an embarrassing moment. When it's Trip's turn, he pantomimes an errant golf swing. When he returns to their table, he asks what he did while under hypnosis and claims he doesn't remember anything. 

Alice Erskine lives in town and runs a boutique catering service for dinner parties up to twelve people. A few days later Erskine is found dead in her car, strangled by a seatbelt. One of the prime suspects is her catering partner Portia. who had been heard having an acrimonious discussion with Alice.  Portia is Guy Whitney's sister and Kat knows him from her playwriting classes. He begs them to clear his sister, but they are reluctant. Having nearly gotten themselves killed the last time they investigated, they promised their significant others they would stay out of the cases. But this one is too tempting. 

Roping in their husbands, Trip and Beau, gives the four pals additional support and they set out to investigate Erskine. They soon discover Erskine was not an ethical hypnotist and they wonder if she had been blackmailing her clients. They also discover her husband was an unscrupulous businessman and might be the killer himself. 

To complicate matters a dangerous hurricane is brewing off the coast of Florida and taking aim at their homes. Beware the East Wind has an exciting climax and promises to include the four Mah Jongg friends in other adventures. 


Disclosure: I received this book from the author.