The Beary family returns in The Beacon and Other Mystery Stories, the third book featuring feisty city councillor, Bertram Beary, his opera-singing daughter, Philippa, and his detective inspector son, Richard.  With a variety of subjects that encompass travel, music, theatre and the great outdoors, these nine intriguing stories are a must for mystery lovers everywhere.

In the title story, a former opera singer who was renowned for her performance as La Gioconda becomes the prime suspect when her husband’s body washes ashore near their waterfront home the same day that his mistress dies in a fiery inferno on the other side of the channel.  As the book progresses, the senior members of the Beary family solve “The Mystery of the Boston Teapots” while walking The Freedom Trail during a visit to Massachusetts; and back at home, Philippa discovers that no one can solve a problem like Maria when she takes on the leading role in a local production of The Sound of Music. 

“Reflections on an Old Queen” finds Richard Beary meeting a beautiful and enigmatic blonde on the ferry crossing to Powell River, an encounter that plunges him into a mystery that reaches far into the past.  Later he faces one of the biggest challenges of his career when a dangerous serial killer escapes from prison with the intention of tracking down the people who put him behind bars. In “Echo of Evil”, the Bearys head for cowboy country, only to find murder during an anniversary gathering in Merritt; then a wrongful arrest blights the family’s Halloween celebrations in “The Devil May Care”.  In one of the most compelling tales, a historical mystery catches Philippa’s attention, and as she tries to discover “Who Killed Lucia?”, her brother investigates an eerily parallel case at a Sikh wedding. 

While every story presents a puzzle of its own, Philippa’s own story continues throughout the book as she overcomes personal disappointments and forms new friendships.  Ultimately, when she and her sister, Juliette, undertake a prestigious engagement at a high-society Christmas party, even the blanket of snow covering the Lower Mainland cannot quell her spirits as she realizes that someone who seemed an enemy in the past may well turn out to be a very special somebody in her future.