by Gregory Mcdonald (1997)
It's Labor Day weekend, and Skylar's just arrived at his rich relations' in Yankeeland. Very upper-crusty, Hahvahd types all around, and proper proper proper…One thing's no different, though—crime, which social class isn't above. Only problem is, when some very valuable jewels disappear, folks start pointing the finger at Skylar. He tries to shake these accusations off, but when a thirteen-year-old rich girl turns up murdered, Skylar's got no choice but to get down and find some real answers fast. (From the dust cover)
Vera and Bill Cleaver
Eleven-year old Ellen is sent to live with Mrs. McGruder. Her active imagination and friendship with Ira, a solitary but harmless old man, leads to his blurting out to Ellen the story of his brutal parents and what he did to them.
Yvonne Whittal
There was no denying that Carl Ziegler was sensationally attractive, nor that he was very attracted to her — but where was that going to get her? Morgan Field wondered ruefully. For if she gave in to him he would break her heart and then walk away from her; he was emphatic that the last thing he wanted was any kind of commitment to any woman. Even so, how dared he use her as a cover-up for his affair with a married woman? Would Morgan ever manage to escape from this silken web he had woven around her?
Rebecca Winters
Had he betrayed her people? Courtney Blake valued her Miccosukee heritage deeply. Although she lived in Miami, she frequently visited the Everglades to see her mother's family, who still adhered to the tribe's old ways. Now Courtney was running back to the 'Glades to escape Jonas Payne--the man she loved. Jonas, working for his father's law firm, had successfully defended the tribe's land claim. But Courtney had reason to believe he'd done it only to further his family's political ambitions. He'd used the tribe, used her. Then her certainty of his guilt began to waver. Had she been wrong to accuse him of duplicity--and to question his love?
Niamh Greene
Coco Swan has always been embarrassed by her name. With a name like Coco, she thinks people expect her to be as exotic and glamorous as the famous designer, not an ordinary-looking small-town antiques dealer who could win an award for living cautiously.