A Vintage Year For Dying (A Hugh Morrison Mystery) - Softcover

In the Hudson Valley town of Appleboro, retired cop Hugh Morrison and his widowed neighbor Harriet Lorimer continue their informal investigative partnership (A Killing in Real Estate, 1989). The problem this time is the murder of Al Beasley--lecher, drug dealer, and professor at the local college--who had long abused his wife, local girl Florene. His body was found in a pond behind their frowzy, isolated house, and the police are busy looking for proof that Florene killed him. In her nearly dimwitted way, she seeks help from Morrison, who soon turns up a slew of Beasley-haters--rival professors Cribbs and Blackman; vineyard owner Art DeWitt, who's sure that Beasley, once employed as his P.R. man, has ruined him; Don Tupper, head of the competing Clarendon winery, whose young wife attended Beasley's raunchy parties; and a hot-tempered, overprotective father, among others. Morrison slowly works his way through gossip, myriad motives, and another killing to the real culprit, barely escaping death in the process. The plot rambles, but the small-town characters and atmosphere are engaging, as are Morrison and Lorimer in this cozy, untaxing entertainment. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

The sprightly banter between portly PI/retired cop Hugh Morrison and his feisty landlady Harriet Lorimer dominates this engaging third entry (after Off with the Old ) in a series. The suspicious death of universally disliked college professor Al Beasley raises a wake of detractors, including his abused wife, abandoned mistress, embittered campus colleagues and feuding local vintners. As Hugh works on the case, he and Harriet bicker their way through a series of diverse subplots (a particularly outrageous one involves an irascible octogenarian eccentric and her supposedly kidnapped cat). Tales of drug dealing and sexual escapades at the Beasley homestead and a nefarious blackmail scheme are neatly woven into a satisfying conclusion after a cliffhanger climax finds Hugh caught in a flatbed truck soaring over a bluff. Orenstein nicely captures the gossip-mongering atmosphere of his small town in the northeast and the seemingly sound but ultimately self-destructive actions taken by communities, municipal or academic, when they try to protect their own.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.