Ngaio Marsh 
Death in Ecstasy 

Tainted wine sends a member of a religious sect to meet her maker in a witty mystery marked by "quiet, intelligent deduction" (Kirkus Reviews).Did lovely Cara Quoyne get a whiff of the bitter almonds as she raised the goblet to her lips? We’ll never know: With a single sip of prussic acid she transported herself to the Hereafter.Now Inspector Alleyn must investigate a murder at the House of the Sacred Flame, a rather quirky little religious sect in London where Cara was a novice. It seems that somebody was operating from very un-spiritual motivations . . ."Much better than the average run of mystery tales." -The New York Times