Running back home after news of her affair with a politician leaks out, Lilly Bennett starts up her own international security consulting business and finds her first client in a murdered head of a ranching dynasty. A first novel. National ad/promo.

Lilly Bennett, the irrepressible high-society sleuth featured in the acclaimed debut novel Bad Manners, investigates the murder of a German baroness at a luxury ranch in Wyoming, frequented by a diverse group of suspects.

By turns audacious and lionhearted, tender and vulnerable, Lilly Bennett doubles as a U.S. marshal and Wyoming's most persistent P.I. Decked out in Chanel pumps and St. Laurent suits, Lilly fights crime with the best of the boys—but she never lets you forget that she's a lady through and through.... Ninety-year-old Cyrus Vaile is the most lecherous rogue in town—not to mention the wealthiest. A longtime patron of the arts, Cyrus has just donated a whopping $20 million to the local repertory theater. But the money has inexplicably vanished, and Cyrus wants Lilly to help him find out where it went. At first Lilly steers clear of the scandal. But when Cyrus drops dead right in the middle of his own birthday party, all clues point to murder. Now Lilly must stage an investigation of her own—and find out who really dropped the final curtain on Cyrus Vaile.

In her cashmere sweater, suede pumps, and pearls, Lilly Bennett hardly looks like a hard-boiled private detective. But Lilly, a federal marshal and part-time P.I., has a sharp eye for shady doings among the Wyoming moneyed circles in which she moves. And her Glock .26 makes the perfect accessory with any outfit.... Even Lilly admits that the week of her wedding is not the ideal time to take on a case, but this one's a little personal. During a round of prenuptial parties, a gunshot cuts down the hostess at her own soiree—just minutes after Lilly left her side. Lilly is determined to catch a killer and make it to the church on time. The only question is whether she'll be sporting a wedding veil...or a satin-lined casket.

Lilly Bennett would no more think of going out without her Glock .26 than without her pearls. A hard-boiled P.I. with a touch of class and a federal marshal's badge, Lilly knows the darkest secrets of Wyoming's most glittering citizens.... Clay Parker's exit from this world was less than The former cowboy movie star was shot to bits over dessert at a deadly dull charity dinner. His Las Vegas funeral was no more dignified but a whole lot more entertaining, with a two-dozen-showgirl salute and an appearance by Wayne Newton. Parker was the spokesman for an unpopular family-owned land company that's carving chunks out of Wyoming's wide-open spaces. And he's only the first to die, plunging Lilly into a case as messy and full of homicidal loathing as only a family can be....