Canaan's Gate »

Kathryn R. Wall practiced accounting for twenty-five years in Ohio before retiring with her husband to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where she is currently at work on her next Bay Tanner mystery.

Greed and deception drive the action in this tenth entry in the awardwinning series, set in South Carolina’s sultry Lowcountry

When bank employee Cecelia Dobbs approaches Bay Tanner’s inquiry agency, Bay has no idea her association with the awkward young woman will lead to murder. Concerned that one of her colleagues may be running a scam on the elderly and very wealthy Castlemains of Hilton Head Island, Cecelia is seeking proof she can take to the authorities. The other object of her suspicion is the couple’s caretaker, flamboyant Kendra Blaine, whose interest in teller Dalton Chambers may be more than just as partners-incrime. When Mrs. Castlemain dies suddenly of an apparent heart attack, less than twenty-four hours after she accepts the case, Bay is stunned.

Still mourning the loss of her father, Bay is also trying to adjust to her recent marriage. Since joining Bay’s staff, Red has been chafing under the constraints of working for his wife, and Bay finds herself wondering if something deeper is amiss with their relationship.

Then Cecelia disappears, and the Castlemains’ grandson, Washington lobbyist Nicholas Potter, tries to hire the agency to investigate Kendra. He, too, believes she could be dangerous— or so he claims. Torn between her unwilling attraction to the charismatic Nick and her growing fears about Cecelia, Bay discovers that divided loyalties can be painful—and sometimes fatal.

Publishers Weekly

A possible embezzlement case occupies inquiry agent Bay Tanner in Wall's suspenseful 10th puzzler set in South Carolina's Lowcountry (after 2009's Covenant Hall). Cecelia Dobbs, a low-level employee at First Coast Bank of the Carolinas, consults Bay because she suspects caregiver Kendra Blaine has swindled elderly Thomas and Rebecca Castlemain of Canaan's Gate, a wealthy Hilton Head island community, out of $1 million with the connivance of another First Coast employee. After Rebecca suddenly dies of a heart attack, the Castlemains' “movie-star handsome” grandson, Nick Potter, retains Bay's services. Nick suspects Kendra lent Rebecca a helping hand into her grave. The plot thickens alarmingly after Cecelia goes missing. Meanwhile, Bay and her restless new husband, Red, debate their working relationship at Simpson & Tanner, Inquiry Agents. Some stormy surprises lead to a cliffhanger ending. (May)