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Paulette Marshall thought she had everything she needed. She was married to a doctor with whom she had one son, Billie, and they lived in a beautiful home that overlooked the hills of Los Angeles. She also had a career that she truly enjoyed: counseling at-risk youths at San Fernando Junior High School. Unbeknownst to her, though, Paulette’s entire world was about to crumble completely in the span of just one day. At work, one of her favorite students was brutally stabbed, and nobody had any answers. Upon returning home that evening, her husband of twenty-two years asked for a divorce so he could be with someone else. Completely overwhelmed by tragedy and heartache, it was then that she realized it was time for a change. Six months later she packed up and decided to spend the summer visiting her cousin in Key West, Florida.
This fast-paced story is partially told by Paulette, who is on a journey of independence and self-discovery after finding herself alone for the first time in many years. The author also tells the story through the differing view-points of several important members of Key West’s tight knit community, including a philandering but well respected fisherman and his family, a young woman who has just learned that she is pregnant right before graduation, and a police captain who himself relocated to the area not too long ago. With murder and hundreds of thousands of dollars serving as the centerpiece, the lives of these individuals are more intertwined than they may ever know, with each link becoming more connected as readers race to the finish.
This novel serves as the first of three books in the Paulette Marshall Murder Mystery Series. Richman’s second novel in the series, Palm Beach Interlude, is currently slated for publication at the end of the year.