Murder in Exile - Tapa dura

Frank Cole is residing temporarily in a rickety cottage in Exile, Florida. His company has gone bankrupt, and the judge has ruled without precedent that any money Frank earns before the claims are settled will be treated as part of the bankruptcy. Frank's lawyer cautions him to earn as little as possible until then, so Frank gets a job as an insurance company's lowly fact-checker. The challenges of the job escalate abruptly, however, when he is called to investigate the hit-and-run death of a young man. Frank's natural curiosity leads him to look more carefully into the accident than is expected of him. When he becomes convinced that the "accident" not only was murder, but that the victim was mistaken for the actual target, whom he somewhat resembles, Frank has opened the gate to a quagmire of dirty dealings in Exile's major money-making industry. He's duty bound to prove the corruption, if he can manage to stay alive.

Vincent H. O'Neil holds a B.S. from West Point and an M.A. in International Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He lives in Cranston, Rhode Island.