The Fortieth Birthday Body — Valerie Wolzien

Down-to-earth housewife Susan Henshaw is turning forty--and feeling ancient. Adding insult to injury is'the unfortunate return of gorgeous local hussy Dawn Elliot, rumored to have slept with half the neighborhood of quiet Hancock, Connecticut ... the married male half anyway.

To lift Susan's sagging spirits, her loving husband throws her a surprise party to end all surprise parties. And for one guest, it is the end. Dawn turns up dead, giving new meaning to the phrase "party pooper."

And so begins an intense investigation that will crack the seemingly peaceful veneer of suburbia wide open....