The Desert Hedge Murders by Patricia Stoltey

Book Description
A body in a bathtub is the last thing Sylvia Thorn expects her mother’s travel club to find when they check into their Laughlin, Nevada hotel rooms.

The Florida Flippers, named for their long-standing support of the Miami Dolphins, scatter like dandelion fluff, intent on investigating a murder case to which they have no apparent connection. From the elderly wannabe cowgirl with wild red hair to the caustic-tongued volunteer park ranger in orthopedic hiking boots, the Florida Flippers keep Sylvia on her toes as she does a little sleuthing of her own.

But when the Laughlin detectives want to interview the Flippers, one of the elder travelers and her rental car are nowhere to be found. The tour group soon makes a grim discovery at the Lone Cactus Gold Mine near Oatman, Arizona, and Sylvia realizes there may be a connection between her mother’s club and the body in the tub after all. To add to the confusion, and Sylvia’s internal turmoil, the handsome and much younger FBI agent, who tormented her in so many ways in Florida, is now in Laughlin showing intense interest in her group’s activities.

Soon Sylvia’s brother, reluctant clairvoyant Willie Grisseljon, senses trouble. Unable to contact his mother by phone, and prompted by his father who is equally alarmed, Willie abruptly abandons his bachelor weekend in Florida and impulsively, with Dad at his side, flies to the rescue. Willie soon wishes someone would rescue him instead.

The Desert Hedge Murders is a tangle of puzzling events that seem to have no connection … until Sylvia and the Florida Flippers stir up so much trouble that Laughlin detectives, the Mohave County Sheriff, and the FBI are forced to work together to reveal the missing pieces.

My thoughts
I like a story where senior citizens are more than just babysitters or a place to rest. Patricia Stoltey’s THE DESERT HEDGE MURDERS is a mystery involving the Florida Flippers; a group of elderly fans of the Miami Dolphins who happen to find a dead body in a bathtub of one of their rooms when they check into a hotel in Laughlin, Nevada. And the adventure starts there. This assembly of feisty octogenarians is chaperoned by Sylvia Thorn (an ex-FBI agent and former judge) and the daughter on one of the Flippers. Willie her brother senses that she and their mother are in trouble and starts snooping himself (And bringing has dad along with him to Nevada). This little mystery is not easily solved which made me enjoy that much more. And I just love the desert!


Note: This book was borrowed from my local library.