The Accidental Sleuth — Helen Macie Osterman

TROUBLE NEXT DOOR

Life is good for sixty-something Emma Winberry. She's got a beautiful Chicago lakefront condo, a loving new man to share it with, and her nose for trouble is hardly twitching. That is, until she tries to help a teenage visitor next door, a girl too thin, too scared, and too quiet by any standards. The girl's aunt, Emma's neighbor Laura, has something to hide -- and Emma soon suspects it's Laura's husband, a brute who keeps bad company.

But Emma's kindly interest leads her to meddle -- again -- and soon she's tied up, gagged, and left for dead in the middle of an abandoned warehouse. With some homeless people as unlikely allies, she uncovers the real focal point of everyone's trouble: an inventor found dead in an alleyway. Soon it's clear Emma is mixed up with some dangerous characters who believe talk is cheap, and a bullet is quicker.