Family Ties

A lakeside cabin in the Sierra foothills, a canyon village divided between old coots and laid-back hippies, and a bartender who's as square as square can be. It's just an all-too-rare escape from the hustle and bustle of L.A for Lenny and his ex-cop friend and landlord, Red Henshaw, when they arrive in Lake Helena for a weekend of rest and relaxation. Then they notice the couple in the battered van that dogs them everywhere they go…. Still, everything's calm in the woods—till Red turns up missing. Lenny's efforts to find his friend succeed in the worst way possible, and it's up to a motley crew made up of a sex-crazed gallery owner, a squad of gay outlaw bikers, a cop turned short-order cook, and the suave and deadly Uncle Angie—Lenny's future in-law—to set things straight. If they can. In this follow-up to The Dust Will Answer, Lenny Strasser, printshop production manager and accidental amateur sleuth, is tossed once more into the deep end of the off-beat to solve a double mystery.