Jada Beaudine has lost her husband Terry in a tragic and mysterious boating accident--and she badly needs a change. She leaves her home in Puget Sound to get away from the horror, the memories, and the relentless glare of publicity that surrounded her husband’s death.
Alone, she drives south and by the second evening finds herself taking a wrong turn in the stark Mojave high desert of interior Southern California. While mesmerized by the bigger-than-life beauty of a desert sunset, she nearly runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Amid mounting apprehension, she manages to find the odd “Red Rock Inn & Café,” a lost, creepy old resort from some other place and time--where, Irina, a strange emerald-eyed woman materializes and convinces her to stay the night.
She’ll check out early in the morning and be on her way, right?
But by morning, events unravel quickly and Jada finds herself pulled straight into the scene of a bizarre murder--a potter for goodness sakes! As she reluctantly tries to make sense of this murder, it’s soon followed by yet another. And all the while, Jada is being followed by people with varied, surprising and even sinister agendas of their own.
Yes, she may have a knack for solving murders—as psychic Irina seems to know—but in this off-kilter scenario, Jada has her own powerful hunch that the next victim will be her. And every time she tries to leave this otherworldly place, she finds that somehow she can’t…
Death of a Perfect Man
Reading Group Discussion Points:
1. Characters:
- Would you have headed out on your own from Puget Sound like Jada? And leave your friends and possessions?
- Would you have found Irina scary and driven on? Or stayed the night like Jada?
- What did you think of the concept of a perfect man? Why do think Irina was so blind to Nick’s imperfections?
- Did you like Josia Rhodes? Lyle Elliot?
2. Atmosphere:
- Did you get a feel for the Mojave Desert from author's description?
- What about the Red Rock Inn and Café? Would you stay in a room like Jada’s? And do you think The Red Rock Inn and Café would be an interesting place to live—even with a better room?
- Was the desert made real by the author? Could you smell, taste, and feel the heat and sand?
- If you already live in the High-Desert, did you find the descriptions accurate?
3. Story:
- Was Jada’s story intriguing?
- Were the clues there throughout the story for you to figure out “who done it?”
- Were you satisfied with the ending?
When you finished the story and left Jada, were you left with further thoughts pertaining to your own life?