Poor Harrison. People just seem to die around him. The only positive thing about this death is Harrison is not a suspect. Why is Harrison not a suspect with this death? While Harrison is out kayaking on the river, he runs into a body floating in the water--the body of his old girlfriend Becka Lane. All evidence points to a suicide by pills which Harrison knows would never happen since Becka was adverse to any type of pill taking. Along with realizing that only he can prove that Becka did not commit suicide and was actually murdered, he must deal with a real estate developer who is determined to bring "progress" to the area by any means necessary.
This book, as in the previous book, uses the character of Markum quite a bit, and Harrison gets just a little better understanding of what Markum does for a livelihood. Other characters are introduced such as Cyrus Walters, an eccentric old man with whom Harrison as become friends, but inexplicably refuses to see Harrison and even hires bodyguards to keep people away; and Grover Blake who sells barbecue sandwiches to people by invitation only. All the other characters are kept basically to the roles established previously.
There was, for me, some frivolous filler, but then, I have never felt compelled to chain myself to a tree as happens within the book. I did tire of the short side issue of Harrison having to deal with Sonora and Heather's ongoing feud, for by now it seemed to me that the disagreement was just plain silly. However, it does not detract from the main plot.
I did not feel that this book was as strong as the first three books in the series, but it is still worth the read. Although I can not definitely say so, this book appears to be the end of the series. (I am making this judgment on the way the book ends.) If it is the last book of this Tim Myers series, I will be sorry to not be able to read more about Harrison and his "family".
Another great story, good cozy, likable characters. Like the way this man writes and his tips on everything he writes about. Looking forward to more of his writing.
Charlie M. (bookaddicted) - 
