Granite State Mysteries
1
Live Free or Die
A Granite State Mystery
The way she sees it, volunteer fire chief Gwen Fifield’s life is about as good as can be. Sure, she’s gained twenty pounds and her property taxes increased just in time for Christmas. But, her basement didn’t flood with the fall rains for the first time in years and the general store has started delivering pizza.
Yup, by Winslow Falls, NH standards it’s pretty darn good. That is, until an arsonist lets loose in the village and Gwen finds a body sizzled like a sausage in the smoldering remains of the local museum.
With no experience solving arsons Gwen is eager to turn over the case to State Fire Marshal’s Investigator Hugh Larsen. But things are never that easy; Hugh needs her take on the townspeople and their relationships just as much as she needs him.
Fortunately for the townspeople, a recently arrived immigrant family provides ideal suspects. When an artifact from the burnt museum shows up in the possession of one of the foreigners, the town readily blames the “people from away”. A second death, also connected to the museum, convinces Gwen that the town she’s always taken at face value is harboring a home-grown murderer.