Bleeding Hearts

It's February on Cavanaugh Street, Philadelphia, and the longtime residents are beginning to act downright moonstruck. Valentine's Day is coming, and Cupid has aimed his arrows at the most unlikely targets. Bestselling fantasy author Bennis Hannaford spots the first direct hit of the season, and she can barely believe her eyes. Stout, comfortable, and long-widowed Hannah Krekorian is bringing home a man. And her tall, silver-haired swain is none other than the best-loved psychology guru of the decade, Paul Hazzard, who coincidentally was once suspected of murdering his wife. Bennis, of course, shares the gossip and the nagging worry taking shape in her fertile mind with her neighbor and best friend, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. And Gregor soon uncovers news of his own: The case of who stabbed Jacqueline Hazzard to death four years before is still open and about to hit the tabloids again. Paul Hazzard's former mistress, the elegant Candida DeWitt, has decided to write her tell-all memoirs. The question is: Will she reveal whodunnit to her lover's wife? Or will the murderer decide to do a little book-editing first...in the form of another killing? While someone may be planning a murder, the yen for roses and romance is definitely blooming in a May-December affair between Bennis's brother and an older woman that has all Cavanaugh Street buzzing. But a corpse is in the offing, and the discovery of a body may spoil the mood at the soiree Hannah is giving to introduce her new sweetheart to all the old cronies, eccentric characters, and nosy ladies of the neighborhood. Especially when the body has been stabbed just like poor Mrs. Paul Hazzard's. In Hannah's bedroom. With the murder weapon in grandmotherly Hannah's hand. Nearly sure (at least 90 percent positive) that Hannah is innocent, Bennis and Gregor quickly list their other possible suspects, who include many of Paul's nearest and dearest. The trouble is that Eros is a classic motive for irrational acts of