A Venetian Charade — Helen York

Venice had beckoned to her with a promise of happiness, but when Teresa Weston arrived in the ancient city of romance and intrigue, she was unprepared for what awaited her. Expecting to meet her fiancé, she was greeted by a stranger instead -- and the news of her beloved's death.

Determined to investigate the tragedy, Teresa accepts a post as a companion to a wealthy countess. Only the job is a bit too conveniently offered, and a series of strange occurrences -- mistaken identity, a hint of scheming in an old woman's fancy, sudden revelation in a graveyard, a masked ball -- all lead Teresa to believe that she has been unwittingly led to play the leading role in a deadly charade. Whose hand is behind this frightening drama -- that of the countess, her charming nephew, or the stranger who first met her in Venice and has continued to seek her out?

Twenty-year-old Teresa Weston arrives in Venice in the 1880s to marry Dominic, who has returned to his birthplace from Boston. She is met by Charles Voulart, a broad-shouldered business acquaintance of Dominic's, because Dominic is dead of ""natural causes."" Teresa decides, of course (no reason, just 'cause Dominic was young and previously healthy), that he's been murdered, and she determines to investigate. Meanwhile one Angelo, nephew of the Contessa of Rogatti, is seeking a look-alike Lucia, the Contessa's former secretary, to palm off on the Contessa as Lucia so the Contessa can kill her. Guess who qualifies? York (Malverne Manor, Tremorra Towers) tries to pump in suspense with some scary gondola rides and graveyard visits, but, as Teresa herself says: ""Stop being so foolishly fanciful.""