Death on Lake Michigan

Death on Lake Michigan is a mystery set in a glamorous town on the shore of Lake Michigan in the summer of ’73. Mike O’Brien, once the crusading editor of the Michigan State News, now the assistant editor of the Gull Haven Observer, becomes obsessed with solving the murder of Rich Mallon, one of the most notorious and well-known summer citizens of Gull Haven—and finds love in the process.

Here’s the story: A body washes ashore late one night during the biggest party night of the year in Gull Haven, Michigan. Murders are almost unheard of in this rich and trendy town, so the story is really big news—especially when it turns out that it belongs to Rich Mallon, one of the most notorious and well-known summer citizens of Gull Haven, a man who most of the locals believe was in the drug dealing business. Mike O’Brien is as fascinated about the murder as anyone and is glad to finally have a story with some meat to it to investigate. His investigation ends up becoming almost an obsession, especially as more and more leads surface about it and it becomes known that Rich Mallon was really Richard Nearing, the prodigal son of Edward Nearing, scion of a wealthy and prominent family from Chicago. As he follows up the leads in the story, he encounters an oddball and unlikely group of suspects that only deepens the mystery rather than leading closer to a solution.

Who will the murderer turn out to be? Grant Fields, who rumor has it was his partner in crime but whom he had a terrible argument with on the night Rich was killed? Could it be Becky Westworth, the beautiful and sexy but notorious woman who was Rich’s girlfriend until they had a bitter breakup just a couple of weeks before the murder? Or could it be Jack Engler, a fairly respectable young business owner in Gull Haven who has never committed a crime in his life but has hated Rich since he stole his girlfriend away from him a few months before the murder and who has been heard to say he’d like to kill Rich. Another suspect is Langdon Smith, owner of the largest fruit operation in the area, whose son died of an overdose of drugs that he always believed he got from Rich. It could even be Virginia Nearing, Rich’s elegant young stepmother whom he hated so much he hadn’t visited his father in many years but who may need to get Rich out of the way if she is going to stand any chance of inheriting her husband’s millions.

With the help of the irascible Lt. George Dirkman of the Lake County sheriff’s department, Mike unravels the mystery and even finds love along the way. Check out Death on Lake Michigan today for one of the most interesting mysteries and one of the most interesting group of characters you will have encountered in a long time!