Deservedly Dead — B.J. Oliphant

THE OLD JEWELL PLACE HAS FALLEN ON EVIL DAYS.

The new owner has drained the wetlands, poisoned the scrub, destroyed the wildlife; and the screaming machines are still at it. Neighbor Shirley McClintock is just about ready to kill. So when the inevitable happens and someone does kill the ruthless greenhorn easterner, Shirley is the prize suspect.

But she finds that there's a long line of people who hated the stranger--other neighbors, a beaten-down wife, and, back East, enemies of all persuasions. Whoever fired the shot may be hard to find, but Shirley is urgently moved to try--for her own sake!

B.J. Oliphant has created a tense and timely morality mystery that pits reason against folly, good against evil, life against death. It's Shirley McClintock's most distinguished performance.