A Vintage Year for Dying

Florene Beasley claims her professor husband is dead, and while this fails to bother her, collecting on his insurance is hard to do without a body. Hugh Morrison, an aging, retired state trooper, declines the chance to dust off his investigating skills, preferring a quiet life made exciting only by rich, fattening foods. Harriet, his elderly lady friend, overrules him; work will keep him young, light snacks will keep him healthy. (Hugh lives over Harriet's garage, and the smalltown gossips of Appleboro wonder about those two.) Reluctantly, Hugh tackles the problem, and with Harriet at his side he follows a twisted path through multiple murders, drug deals, academic infighting, sabotage of vintage wines, and the case of an underfed and oversexed Siamese cat. Through it all, he dreams wistfully of thick steaks, hot fudge sundaes, and an absence of work. A Vintage Year for Dying is a wonderfully twisty whodunit with warm, lovable characters caught up in a web of betrayal, greed, and murder.