Sandra Carey Cody Knihy

Jennie Connor's friend, Lilly, is in big trouble. Two patrons are poisoned while dining at her restaurant and the police are too busy with crowd control to notice a shadowy figure climb down the arbor and slip away. Jennie watches and wonders if Lilly's daughter, Jasmine, is up to her usual teenage mischief or if something more sinister is going on. Jennie tries to sort out the case, aided and abetted by her tea ladies. These six elderly women, made of more spice than sugar, are residents of Riverview Manor, where Jennie works as Activities Director. While the press focuses on one of the victims, Phillip Jeffries, a junior high school principal who has made a lot of enemies during his career, Jennie learns that the other victim, teacher Leonard Atkinson, has his own dirty little secret.

As crazy as Jennie Connors is about her handsome husband, she dreads his reaction when she tells him her car has been stolen. When she discovers a message on her answering machine hinting that the vehicle was left at Oz, she jumps at the chance to find the car before he returns from the West Coast. Following directions given in the message, Jennie finds the car and the body of Robin Langley, the babysitter for the Connors' two young sons.What motive could anyone have for killing Robin? Why steal the Connors' car to hide the body, then leave a message directing Jennie to it? Fearing that a direct threat to her family is behind the sinister events, Jennie determines to find the killer herself.

When Preston Barrons hands Jennie Connors the keys to Barrons Bank and Trust Company and asks her to pay a 2 a.m. visit, her instinct screams "give them back!" But how can she, when her paycheck depends on finding out who made an unauthorized transfer? Money from a recent fundraiser has ended up in the account of Webster Barrons, and the family is hoping Jennie can clear their son's name. Instead of answers, Jennie finds the body of Preston's right hand man. She goes looking for the security guard, but he finds her first and assumes she's trying to sneak out. It seems the only way to extricate herself from bank politics is to find the killer. Assisting Jennie are Riverview Manor's lively and opinionated residents, especially Tess, whose FBI background gives her a unique insight, and Nate, who offers his own tilted perspective, gained from a long and not-so-carefully-lived life.

"This title was previously published by Avalon Books; this version has been reproduced from Avalon Books archive files."