The Orchid Shroud: A Novel of Death in the Dordogne Book

“Not since Nero Wolfe has such a fragrant combination of orchid lore and suspense found its way into a mystery novel,” Booklist trumpeted upon the publication of Michelle Wan’s Deadly Slipper. In THE ORCHID SHROUD, Wan weaves another tale abounding in mystery and orchids as interior decorator Mara Dunn and orchidologist Julian Wood team up to solve two murders: one dating back to the 1870s; the other occurring almost right before their eyes.Mara is renovating the manor house of Julian’s friend, the wealthy and socially prominent Christophe de Bonfond, when she discovers the body of a murdered infant. The body, concealed for more than a century, brings to light unexpected and critical information on an elusive Lady’s Slipper orchid that Julian avidly seeks. Christophe hires genealogist Jean-Claude Fournier to exonerate his ancestors of infanticide, only to have the expert unleash even more terrifying suspicions about who the de Bonfonds really were and their possible links with the mystery orchid. When violent death strikes in the present day, Mara and Julian begin an investigation of their own that leads them to uncover a trail of murder spanning many decades. As they unearth a past filled with hatred, greed, and treacherous manipulations, they must also unmask a present-day killer—before they become the next victims.Read More