Murder Among the O.W.L.S.

Birds of a dangerous feather

Sheriff Dan Rhodes isn't superstitious, but when his elderly neighbor's black cat walks into his kitchen, he suspects trouble, confirmed when he finds Helen Harris dead on her kitchen floor. It appears to be accidental. But Rhodes knows Helen never let her beloved cat outside. So who did?

Where could a killer lurk in the social world of the sweetest old lady in Blacklin County, Texas? There's Helen's book group, the Old Women's Literary Society (OWLS), where the retired schoolteacher had been stirring up some trouble. More telling could be her metal-detecting club, where some mineral rights could prove lucrative--and therefore dangerous to an old woman's health. Adding to the puzzle, Helen's love life was one even the younger set would envy.

Was jealousy the motive?

The answers come with Rhodes's typical dogged, good-natured diligence--and lead to the unmasking of a killer.