The working title of the first draft -- of what is certainly not yet (and may never be) much of a mystery novel -- is Hazard Bay. It is set in a fictional commercial fishing town in North Puget Sound. The surrounding inlets and islands form a vast, watery border between Washington state and the rest of the world. Among the commercial and sport fisherman, the pleasure boaters, the islanders, and the native tribes are interlopers looking for a fast buck and an easy way into the US -- whether for drugs, guns, people hoping for a better life or people who are just plain bad news.
Margaret Foley is a fortyish divorced librarian who came to Hazard Bay about ten years ago. Grant Vincent is a retired widowed fisheries patrol officer who has lived and worked here most of his life. Margaret and Grant are mere acquaintances, but they are each burning to find out who put a bullet hole in young Jimmy Raitt and why.
In the opening scene, Margaret finds Jimmy's body beside a logging road. Grant is haunted by a similar unsolved murder and the almost simultaneous death of his partner many years ago. Grant and Margaret are determined to find out what happened, relying on Grant's familiarity with Hazard Bay and its history and Margaret's common sense and ability to ferret out all kinds of information. They will need to stay one step ahead of the local sheriff's detectives, not to mention whoever shot Jimmy right between the eyes.
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