The Crazy Old Lady's Revenge — Kathleen Valentine

Novella (39k words) Psychological / horror - Beacon Hill Chronicles: Volume 2 Growing up in her grandparent's apartment in Boston's Theater District, Vivienne Lang spent much of her childhood in the Beacon Hill townhouse of her best friend, Mattie Thorndike. Then Vivienne's life was uprooted and, by the time she returned to Boston, she was deeply changed. Now, she spends her time taking care of her grandfather and studying martial arts, a lonely and reclusive woman, until she reads a newspaper article about a body buried in the garden of Mattie's home. She and Mattie reconnect but within days of their reunion the realtor showing the house is found in the servants' stairwell with a broken neck. Then the old housekeeper, Nell, is found floating, face down, in the ocean. As more bodies turn up, Vivienne becomes deeply involved in inexplicable circumstances including meeting a handsome, sexy ex-cop named Joe Quinn, and a strange, yarn shop-owner who calls herself Madame Defarge. And someone seems to be stalking Mattie. (Volume 1 is "The Crazy Old Lady in the Attic".)