Nancy Gotter Gates A Stroke of Misfortune

A Stroke of Misfortune

Nancy Gotter Gates

Silver Dagger, 2005, $9.95

ISBN: 1570722978

In La Hacienda condo in Sarasota, Florida, Geraldine "Gerry" Stapleton worried about how her relatively new neighbor Emma Daniels is adjusting to the sudden death of her fifty-nine year old spouse Paul. Though Emma wants to be alone she also welcomes the show of friendship as her family is all back in Ohio. However, not long afterward tragedy strikes when chronic leukemia stricken Gerry suddenly dies and her husband Phil subsequently suffers a stroke, losing the ability to communicate.

The real shocker to an already mentally battered Emma occurs when the police arrest Phil for suffocating his wife in what they label as a mercy killing. Emma refuses to believe that Phil murdered his wife especially as an act of mercy when he informed her that the doctor's prognosis for Gerry was excellent and would probably live at least ten more years. Unable to let it go, Emma investigates starting with obtaining information on her deceased friend's past. She learns that the assertive Gerri was a former president of a pro-life group that sued a storefront church for blocking entrance to an abortion clinic and belonged to a crafts collective in which she challenged some creative bookkeeping. Could either of these groups which had motive take revenge by killing her?

Obviously Emma is the star of this delightful cozy as she struggles with widowhood, her friend's death, the husband as the prime suspect, and on top of that her daughter-in-law, estranged from her son, has turned to her for help. Emma's adventures include abduction and a bomb threat to go with her fun amateur sleuth investigation. She makes the tale she tries to solve who killed Gerry as she refuses to accept Phil could kill his beloved spouse when she still had her spark.

Harriet Klausner