Dead Peasants — Dustin Stevens

An ugly name for an even uglier practice…

Bargain Mart, a fixture in the Missoula economic structure, has fallen on hard times. The situation is dire, they're on the phone daily with corporate, and if a financial windfall doesn't arrive soon, their doors will close.

Across town, Drake Bell has settled back into his life as a third-year law student. Behind him are the events of the past fall; the scars for him, his partner Ava, and his friends the Zoo Crew are just now beginning to heal.

All appears normal until a case arrives in the form of Alice Galt. Recently widowed, she was attempting to put her life back in order when a call arrived informing her of a sizable life insurance policy in her late husband's name. A policy she never knew a thing about from a company on the opposite coast she's never heard of.

Despite growing trepidation, Drake agrees to look into the matter, fast finding the situation facing Galt is far from the only one in town. With each one he examines, the number of inconsistencies grows.

The sole thing they have in common is their ties to a industrial giant desperate to remain that way…