I was given this book by a friend. Before I reached the end I knew that I had to read the whole series. I checked which ones my library has and I've ordered the missing ones used from Abes Books.
Our heroine, Lucy Stone, is the mother of 3 children and very pregnant with her fourth. Her two daughters, ages 7 and 4 are getting ready to perform in a ballet recital. There is a retired dance teacher in town who is living a quiet life, following a pretty strict routine every day. So when she suddenly disappears and leaves her Golden Retriever running loose people are quite concerned that she may have had an accident in the woods or been attacked. A thorough search by police turn up nothing. The police conclude that she has simply gone on vacation without telling anyone. But why would she abandon her dog? Why would she leave right before the dance recital? The dance instructor was one of her star pupils.
Meanwhile there is a cantakerous old man who runs a hardware store in town. His prices are much higher than at other stores but his store is more convenient so people will shop there if they don't feel like travelling to the larger area of stores. This man is the patriarch of the richest and most powerful family in town. When he is found dead suspicion rests on Fanny who has been an underpaid, faithful lone clerk in his store for years. Her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon.
Lucy knows in her bones that Fanny didn't do it and sets out to figure out who did. A lot of people had a vested interest in his estate.
I love the way the plot twists and how the two seemingly completely different mysteries end up converging near the end of the book.
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