Gunning Point Road — J.N. Catanach

It's high summer in Jimmy Carter's America. Down along the South Jersey Shore Bernice, a diminutive widow whose mantra is ‘Don't mind me,' takes a call on a HELP line. The call will catapult her into a wild and crazy escapade, the likes of which perhaps only New Jersey has the chutzpah to serve up. Along with her friend Rita -- who drives a maroon Marathon Checker for a living, Rita's uncle -- a Piney with a thing about easements, and Otis -- a retired mail carrier she picks up at a funeral, Bernice morphs into a latter day David who challenges a Goliath stalking the Garden State -- and along the way solves some murders.