Degree of Guilt
by
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He was moving quickly now, this dark mass in a canoe. The oar dipped into the water quietly, hardly breaking the peace of the humid night. Quarter moon covered by wisps of clouds. No stars. Good thing he knew his way. Boulders jutted out from the shoreline like humps of a black sea monster ready to slink into the depths of the lake. He was five minutes past Harp Wallace's place.
The bowling pin lay next to him, its rounded top touching against his leg. Perhaps he'd use it to bash in her head. He chuckled at the thought. Keep it in the family. First old Lou. Now his nosy granddaughter.
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About the Book
After a year of teaching rotten students and dealing with an even more rotten boyfriend in Chicago, Maggie Witkowski wants to enjoy her inheritance—her grandparents’ lakeside cabin in northern Wisconsin, the idyllic summer retreat of her childhood. As she begins cleaning the neglected cabin, Maggie has no idea that the past is about to catch up with the present in a way she never could have imagined.
With most of the cabin’s heirlooms sold by her mother, Maggie is left with nothing but her memories and a multitude of problems. Worse, the townsfolk who doted on Maggie as a child have branded her grandfather a murderer.
And then there is the ghost who suddenly makes his appearance known. Dead since 1963, Larry Denison is helplessly attached to the Witkowski cabin. A rascal during his life, he must now perform a good deed before he can gain entrance to a happy eternity. Unfortunately, Maggie, whom he sees as the pain in his side, is his only way out—and up.
In this intriguing mystery, a woman defending her grandfather’s name must brave insults, pranks, and assaults on her life to find the truth and ensure justice—with the help of a ghost with his own agenda.
About the Author
Barbara Harken was raised in Chicago and moved to Iowa at the age of sixteen. She teaches writing at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and, in her spare time, dabbles in a side career as a singer. Barbara and her husband, Bob, have two adult sons, two grandchildren, and two patient daughters-in-law. This is her second novel.