A Desperate Ruse reveals that Watson's true motive for writing A Study in Scarlet was a much more urgent one than his stated wish broadcast the talent of his friend. The publication of the journal was p part of a desperate plan - a plan to save the life of the man he was writing about - Sherlock Holmes.

Spring in Leelanau County is very quiet. The Sheriff's Department fields inquires about road conditions, reports of lost pets and the occasional plea of a motorist who has struck a deer. Then comes Tom Morgan's desperate call for the village of Suttons Bay - a call that shatters the calm at the sheriff's office and turns Morgan's ordered life on its head. Murder is the last thing one expects here.

They all wanted something. The Colorado Governor wanted another term. The Virginia Governor wanted a seat in the U, S, Senate. A new Yorker wanted to join her fiance to begin a new life in West Virginia. A young lawyer wanted to bring peace to his dying mother.A college student wanted desperately to be loved.But a brutal murder and the law put an end to all that.Still a journalist wanting a story worthy of a Pulitzer discovered he was at the right place at the right time.

Things just aren't going Dr. David Brahms's way. The Chief of Surgery at Northwestern University Hospital is hell-bent on sabotaging his surgical training. A homicide detective is trying to finger him for a murder that he didn't commit. And the girl of his dreams is suddenly avoiding him. But these are only the beginning of his problems.

The faculty f a prestigious university English department is shocked when the newly appointed chairman declares that "best-selling" is the true attribute of literary excellence. He invites the authors of mysteries and thrillers that line the drugstore shelves to be honored at the university. They come, they are honored and they are murdered in a manner consistent with their writing styles.

In this sequel to Strawberry Moon, Sheriff Hoss Davis of rural Leelanau County and his deputies find they have a very high-profile case on their hands. An internationally famous chef, known to millions through his television show, is murdered while on vacation in their county. It is determined that the killer must have been one of the guests present at the chef's final summer party. The nations media, of course, senses an opportunity for sensational news and is watching closely, ready to pounce on any mistakes the police might make. The problem for the Sheriff's Department: there seem to be no clues.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman are two men whose backgrounds were very dissimilar but whose achievements proved to be roughly comparable--both became President of the United States. It is, for example, ironic that the wealthy Roosevelt is best known for his social programs and that Truman, who came from modest circumstances in the Middle West, achieved his greatest success in foreign affairs. This study demonstrates, with some flair, the variety and the breadth of the American experience and provides, in part, a credible basis for the existence of an American Dream.