Slow Dancer — Rodman Philbrick

Connie Kale and Mandy O'Hare were friends when they were young, before it mattered that Connie's father was the retired golf pro turned greenskeeper at the posh Sankaty Head Golf Course, of which the O'Hare family was the sole owner. But the time had come when being from opposite sides of the tracks made a difference -- and the rift between Mandy and Connie was one that never really closed. While Connie followed in her father's footsteps as a professional golfer, Mandy turned into the town's golden girl -- wild, rich, irresponsible. Still, no one -- least of all Connie -- would have predicted that Mandy would turn up at the Sea Breeze Motel with a tough male stripper, one Tony Steel -- and dead, to boot.Alfred, the "Governor," O'Hare doesn't take kindly to people who upset his ambitions for his family. And with Mandy's father, Pudge, running for Congress, he's particularly anxious not to have bad press messing up his son's chances. Connie, just back from the grueling pro circuit and newly-turned private detective, can't keep herself from paying her respects at Mandy's funeral. After so many years, she's astonished the Governor would even remember her -- much less invite her back to the O'Hare mansion for a drink.She knows the Governor is never generous without a reason. When he offers to hire her to get the real story on Mandy's death -- and keep it out of the local papers -- Connie isn't sure if it's sentiment or snoopiness that makes her say yes. But she soon finds that the privilege of being in the Governor's circle comes with no strings attached...Old-time money and small-town New England politics, the high life on Sankaty Head and the low underside of life among the hustlers and dealers of Rivermuth, all combine to make Slow Dancer a fresh new twist on a classic mystery story.