DEADLY DECLARATIONS

Wade offers an offbeat legal mystery set in a retirement community.

At the story’s outset, 96-year-old Matthew “The Professor” Collins is recently deceased. He earned his nickname for having written a New York Timesbestseller about the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. The “Meck Dec,” as it’s often called, is a fabled document, allegedly signed in North Carolina in 1775, that declared independence from England before the Declaration of Independence of 1776. But although the existence of the Meck Dec is up for dispute, Collins’ death is not—nor is the fact that his beloved granddaughter, Lori, seems to have been mysteriously removed from his will. Collins’ best friend and fellow Independence Retirement Community resident, Chuck Yeager Alexander, suspects something is amiss, but he knows little about what it takes to contest a will. Enter new “Indie” resident Craig Travail, a recently retired trial lawyer. He and Yeager—along with the smart and practical Harriet Keaton, another resident—band together to help Lori. This caper ably combines such unlikely material as retirement community complaints, courtroom technicalities, and a disputed historical document that’s nonetheless referenced on North Carolina’s state flag. The tale drags a bit at the outset; for instance, early on, Yeager explains his various nicknames for Indie residents to Travail (such as “Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell the Third”), but they aren’t particularly funny or inventive. Things pick up, however, after the legal maneuvering kicks into gear. A contested will might be an age-old plot device, but this narrative gives it an uncommon and engaging level of scrutiny. The courtroom scenes are similarly compelling, as tension builds with every witness called to the stand. Later events take some wild, action-heavy turns, but it’s the rule of law that brings out the best in Travail and his gang.

A page-turning tale that takes an unexpected journey through law, history, and retiree living.