A Poppy Dillworth Mystery

Murder at Red Rock Ranch

Plot

Poppy Dillworth is a 65-year-old retiree from the Dallas Sheriff's Department. But she retired as a clerk, not a police officer -- and the fact that, under the good-old-boy system that existed at the time (and that probably still exists), she never got the chance to put her considerable mind into doing more than just recording cases. Now, as a fledgling P.I., she finally has her chance to solve one. And she takes advantage of it with a passion. Murder at Red Rook Ranch is not a seminal book, but it is important for several reasons. First of all, it deals with the plight of aging lesbians, like Poppy, who are left alone in their old age. It also tackles the subject of other women who approach their declining years realizing that they have lived their lives in this patriarchal society having never questioned their own sexuality. The budding relationship between Poppy and Belle Stoner, the aunt of one of the murder suspects, deals with both of these questions. It is done somewhat better by Penny Mickelbury, another early Naiad author, in her poignant Love Notes, but both are important.