Lee Martin: The Thursday Club (USA 1997)

From the Publisher:
Curtis had to have his handgun close enough he could reach it, even now, even retired and paraplegic, even in his own bedroom. There were too many people who wanted to kill him. That wasn't paranoia; that was fact.

It starts like any other Thursday -- Deb Raiston and her friends Jeanne and Sue, who call themselves "The Thursday Club," go for a short jog in the quiet of the early morning. What they find upon their return, however, horrifies them: Jeanne's husband, Curtis Minot, has been shot to death in his bed. The gun lies below his own hand, but Deb is sure it is cold-blooded murder.

In the hours and days that follow, two more people are somehow killed in Jeanne's home, and the chain of events baffles even Deb, a seasoned police officer. Details of Curtis's shady business dealings emerge, and the cast of characters widens to include Kenneth, the Minots' strangely nonchalant twelve-year-old son; Daniel Ellis, Curtis's mysterious business partner; Nudara Akhbar, whose imprisoned but seemingly innocent husband has a connection with Curtis; and a host of others.

With the thursday club, nationally acclaimed author Anne Wingate (writing as Lee Martin), herself a former police officer, has created an unforgettable, authentically detailed mystery.

Lee Martin: The Thursday Club. A Deb Ralston Mystery. Bookcraft, ISBN: 1570083150 (August, 1997), 240 p., $14.95.