Stella Ryman and the Fairmount Manor Mysteries

“On this particular sun-and-shade April morning at Fairmount Manor, Stella Ryman no more entertained the idea of becoming an amateur sleuth than she had of entering next spring’s Boston Marathon. For not only was Stella eighty-two years old, but she had lately sold her home and a lifetime of gathered possessions and washed up at Fairmount Manor Care Home in such a state that she would have bet her remaining seven pairs of socks that she’d be dead in half a year.” But when money goes missing and an innocent woman stands accused and loses her job at Fairmount, when malicious poison pen letters find their way into the hands of staff and residents, and when a resident vanishes without a trace, Stella takes matters into her own hands. She’ll break every one of the Director’s rules and slash all the institutional red tape in the place in her struggle to find out the truth. Mrs Stella Ryman is an amateur sleuth, trapped in a down-at-the-heels care home. “Stella Ryman. You’d be cranky, too.”

In April 2018, Stella Ryman and the Fairmount Manor Mysteries was longlisted for the prestigious and hilarity-based Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. “I absolutely loved the character Stella, and this was beautifully written with humour, grace, and suspense.” – Kirsty Favell “Stella’s world is an engaging read.” – Mary Morris “Stella wins! Carefully written and a rewarding read. Stella is an unlikely sleuth, like Precious Ramotswe, facing obstacles with courage. A good read for thoughtful people.” – S Peterson “Memorable characters” – Ace Baker, fighttowrite.com “I love how Anastasiou is taking pulp conventions and using them to tell the relatively ‘mundane’ story of a woman’s final years (months? days?) in a nursing home. … complete with hair’s-breadth escapes and tall drinks of water and arch enemies.” – Theric Jepson, thmazing.blogspot.ca https://literarytitan.com/2018/04/11/stella-ryman-and-the-fairmount-manor-mysteries/

Currently listed at $0.99 as lead up to release of sequel, The Labours of Stella Ryman in April 2019.