"Perhaps the best romance/mystery series I have ever read ..." -Pamela Paige, former feature writer, Florida Times-Union The long lazy summer of the pandemic finds the gang in River Bend adapting to the new normal. Lynn and Dusty both maintain home offices. Lynn declares her back yard a mask-free zone allowing friends to gather face-to-unmasked-face while social distancing. Crime seems to have surrendered to covid until Teniquia gets involved in a murder in Des Moines and Dusty and Danny organize to protect Emily Jacobs and her great-grandchildren from another murder attempt. The story wraps on the promising note that a vaccination is expected soon.