Rebecca Temple Mystery

Short-listed for the 2002 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel Dr. Rebecca Temple has just returned to practice in an old converted house in the Kensington Market area of Toronto, six months after the death of her artist husband, when she's confronted with the violent murder of a patient she had earlier diagnosed as paranoid. Sylvia Warsh's accomplished first novel explores the decades-old deceptions and plots that go back to World War Two Poland and underlie the murder of Goldie. Even as Rebecca struggles with guilt over the misdiagnosis which may have led to her patient's death, she becomes the killer's next target.

Still coming to terms with the death of her husband, Dr. Rebecca Temple tries to continue her practice and carry on with life as usual. She meets a charming Polish count who has written a historical novel based on his own family. During a visit to his home, she discovers a murder and soon realizes that the count's manuscript may contain clues to the killer's identity. Frustrated by the inaction of a skeptical police department, she scours the manuscript for answers. As she reads, she journeys back to Enlightenment Europe and uncovers the true story of a love affair between the girl who would become Catharine the Great, and the young man who would become the last king of Poland. In this eagerly anticipated sequel to the acclaimed To Die in Spring, Sylvia Maultash Warsh engages readers in an enthralling mystery that spans three centuries.

The newest Dr. Rebecca Temple book is set alternately in 1979 Toronto and 1930s Berlin. In Toronto, Rebecca follows a trail that begins when Birdie, the schizophrenic homeless woman she is trying to help, is killed. From the German fencing instructor in whose backyard Birdie lived to the Egyptian physician in town to talk up the new drug he is developing from snake venom, nobody is who they appear to be. Strangely, the two men seem to know each other, although neither will say how. Alternating chapters follow a Jewish family, the Eisenbaums, during the Nazi rise to power and the gradual stripping away of the rights of Jews in Germany. The youngest child, Frederika, becomes a doctor against all odds. But as the Nazi grip tightens, she loses the right to practice and is finally sent to a concentration camp. Rebecca's and Frederika's stories connect in the startling conclusion.

This three-book bundle presents all three novels in the Rebecca Temple Mystery series in a complete and authoritative edition. A must-read for fans of Sylvia Maultash Warsh and mystery lovers everywhere. Includes: To Die in Spring; Find Me Again; Season of Iron.