Tree Huggers
Judy Nichols
Zumaya Enigma

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Judy Nichols’ „Tree Huggers“, opens with a Winslow Beach Beacon Real Estate ad reading: What’s New in Real Estate; the completion of the first luxury home in Normandy Sands, that is what is new.

The account commences with a depiction of that 6,000 square foot house. As listed the residence might be just the thing for the perceptive homeowner able for meeting the multi million dollar price.

Needless to say; John Cochran was definitely not that man. His old beat up Volvo really looked out of place, for that matter, Cochran looked out of place with his graying hair, weathered face, clothed in an old pair of blue jeans and a really old –Save the Whales- T shirt.

Waiting in his car parked next to the multi car garage; Cochran was anticipating the arrival of one Warren Owens. Owens embodied the development company determined to acquire Cochran’s stretch of Carolina pine savannah and construct houses on it. As for Cochran; he really was not interested in selling.

Owens’ arrival was followed with his proudly walking Cochran through the house as the duo waited for Owens’ boss and Cochran’s son to join them.

When four cammo attired men wearing masks suddenly appeared; Owens’ only notion was that the four planned to rob the place. compelled into entering a closet by the quartet; the pair listened as the men moved around the room.

Owens worried that the men were vandalizing the place when he heard the glug glug of liquid, Cochran realized something far more sinister was underway.

Kate Dennison’s first day as a reporter for the Winslow Beach Beacon had not gone near as she had thought it might. On the other hand, a job is a job, and a single mom really cannot get along without a job.

Sent to cover the story of the fire that took the lives of Cochran and Owens, Kate works diligently to get to the truth.

From that beginning we follow Kate on her trek to the various local club and school board meetings, get to know an old colleague of hers from Dayton, Ohio where both were involved in the local environmental work, meet Kate’s daughter Molly, and watch over Kate’s shoulder as she types articles for the paper.

Kate quickly learns that all „Tree Huggers“ are not warm and fuzzy. It is during the trial of the man accused of the crime having burned the expensive house to the ground and killing both Owens and Cochran that Kate begins to wonder if the wrong many may be on trial.

A confrontational environmentalist group is certain to disagree with an unprincipled developer. They do.

Inscrutability, deception, death threats, rudeness, bodily grievance, chicanery, slayings, evidence, all are part of the narrative. Kate must one way or another manage her job as mom and reporter, care for her daughter, attempt to disregard her ex husband Keith and his most recent flame, endeavor to find a little time for a life of her own in addition to unknotting the mystery of whether the environmentalist group were responsible for the arson, or was it perhaps someone else.

Writer Nichols has produced an electrifying, well-timed work overflowing with nicely fashioned, animated characters, in depth settings calculated to draw the reader into the account, in addition to supplying a bounty of mystery and deeds, variance and inscrutability all neatly decoded and decided.

I particularly liked the writer’s use of a supposed clip from the Winslow Beach Beacon as the beginning of each chapter. Those clips attach a lot to the small town feel for the story as meetings, and death, declaration of the paper re hiring of that new reporter, witticisms tossed in on the topic of the analysis surrounding the fire, in addition to details regarding Kate, including a contempt of court action, jail, loss of custody of her daughter, being taken hostage, almost getting herself killed help the reader understand that, Winslow Beach was not quite so boring as Kate had first thought.

Happy to recommend Judy Nichols’ „Tree Huggers“ for those who enjoy a well written whodunit.

Watch for red herrings!