Book Description

The serenity of a small Downeast town of Salsbury Harbor is disturbed by an unusual frequency of unrelated deaths of people who knew one another. The local detective's Aunt Ina is one of those deceased and he now has a personal interest to suspect foul play even though the deceased had all suffered from a terminal illness and were expected to eventually die. In his methodical and plodding manner he initiates an investigation to discover reasons behind the unexplained number of deaths. Before the final solution he is led through the issue of euthanasia, blackmail and secrets among the very wealthy whose untimely murders he encounters. To everyone's surprise the mother and daughter of the wealthiest families in town have undertaken to fulfill the wishes of those terminally ill for a painless death. In the end, the daughter repents for her sins, turns against the mother who is jailed for life but in the end, the daughter dispenses mercy on the mother who, ironically enough suffers from ovarian cancer while in jail, the mother discovers of her terminal disease and begs her daughter for mercy who fulfills her request in the only matter she knows.