Behind the Gates of Retirement Communities

Oct. 22, 2013 - PRLog -- The developers of these communities tend to "squeeze" home-sites to maximize return on land acquisition. The enforcement of covenant regulations can foster ill-will between neighbors and even religious discrimination is often present behind the gates. Add to this a rapidly increasing need to discover and exploit new energy resources lying beneath the pristine rural locations favored for these communities, disrupts the peace and quiet so essential to aging residents. Such is the case in the Colorado community known as Bobcat Mountain . . . .

The Bobcat Mountain Murders follows the career of one Hamilton Smith, independent management consultant, Bon Vivant and amateur sleuth, into a trial relocation to an upscale retirement community in western Colorado. Here he is befriended by the vitriolic editor of the local weekly "four pager" and begins an admittedly hesitant search for someone to take the place of his recently deceased wife of thirty-nine years. Having been an active participant in the solution of an "executive suite" murder (Pride Dies in the End), our hero is less than disappointed when the little community is confronted with a series of pre-announced and crudely executed killings of certain controversial and coincidentally unmarried neighbors.

Initial distractions include a homeless, "disturbed" youth who performs odd jobs within the gates of Bobcat Mountain, ongoing negotiations between the owning corporation and a gas well exploration company as well as distinct religious connotations in the choice of victims. As events develop, Smith's painfully deliberate romance with another newcomer is plagued by the dawning realization that she is not what she professes to be and is in fact, a viable candidate for consideration as the mystery killer!

His suspicions become elevated by an investigative trip back to his native New England. Assuming his reluctant chain of reasoning to be correct, Smith becomes logically certain of the identity of the killer's next intended victim. With the blessing and assistance of the local sheriff, Smith and his editor cohort team up to protect the unwary target at the annual community dinner-dance – only to be thwarted by an overlooked suspect. Acting swiftly, the contrite amateur is successful in exposing the real killer. His relief at ending the mini-reign of terror proves however, to be short lived!

The Bobcat Mountain Murders, ISBN: 9781929882939, is the second mystery fiction by author J R Canfield featuring amateur detective Hamilton Smith. Books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.