Fool's Pleasure - Michael A. Gotwalt

Lucian James is dead! Darlene James, Lucian's widow, is distraught, lonely, and uncertain of her future. Born to wealth, and like so many of her station and age, she is sixty-plus. She never really cared about money. She always had it and married well. Lucian was not her first. South Central Pennsylvania is home to many similar families. Scott Redford, a fourth-generation member of another, partners in a powerful financial and legal office that manages the affairs of those of standing. Scott Redford is tasked with helping Darlene James navigate the world of wills, trusts, pre-nuptials, asset management, and Lucian's junk. This junk is a problem because Lucian James was a collector, an extremely wealthy and intelligent collector. When he died, he left behind a world-class collection and a dubious history. Along with his wife, Kathy, and their friend Treasa Conrad, a somewhat mysterious financial manager and lover to both, Scott sets out to untangle Lucian's affairs. Their quest takes them to Lucian's first life, his first marriage, his business, and the deals necessary for success in Baltimore. Lucian was ambitious, and his late first wife, Maria, was a brilliant operator. Before Maria's death, they forged a trucking empire and became a power couple in the burgeoning culture of 1970s Baltimore. Before the quest ends, Scott and his friends learn more than they ever wanted to know about stamps, hidden Nazi treasure, storage lockers, the mob, a carousel horse, and themselves. They also discover Lucian's biggest secret.