Donna Rose and the Slug War — Norma Johnson

Digging for clams early one morning, retired Seattle schoolteacher Donna Galbreath stumbles across the body of Lyle Corrigan, an unpopular member of the water board. Local police chief Billy Donniker had never been the sharpest kid when Donna taught him in sixth grade, which is why she now dismisses his assessment of the crime and takes matters into her own hands.

Then Lyle's wife falls ill and Donna looks deeper into the arrival of a newcomer to town. She suspects the young woman is Lyle's daughter. But when Donna nearly joins the victim in eternal slumber after a mystery gift of poisoned lemon cookies appears at her door, she realizes she's on the right track. She believes Lyle's death is somehow linked to the suicide of a former student -- and a shocking tale of small-town secrets and depravity.