Ladybug, Ladybug

The Hometown Heroes, Susanna Hofmann McShea's quartet of senior sleuths, have been charming readers and reviewers since their debut in the Hometown Heroes four years ago. The unlikely group of friends, comprised of former socialite Mildred Bennett, Dr. Trevor Bradford, retired police chief Forrest Haggarty, and no-nonsense country woman Irene Purdy, find themselves working together once again. The Raven's Wing, Connecticut, sleuths are asked by distraught Louise Cannivan to look into the death of her young son Kevin. Kevin was a boy with everything going for him - charm, wit, and a place waiting for him in the freshman class at Yale - but he threw it all away to study for the priesthood at an obscure Catholic college. Four months later, he is dead, apparently due to an accident. His grieving mother wants answers to the questions surrounding his death, and turns to the senior sleuths for help. The quartet travel up to Coldwater, Connecticut, to visit the seminary and talk to Kevin's roommate, a student from Raven's Wing whom they know quite well. They find that Kevin's death was indeed murder, the roots of which stretch further back in time. Investigating the past and finding violence in the present, the heroes struggle against a ruthless murderer in the season of Christmas and redemption.