Poison Ivy

Ivy Mason. Forty. Female flaneur. A solo life has never been a problem for Ivy but when her neighbour, Audrey, is rehoused at the local retirement village for indefinite respite, Ivy is surprised by her burgeoning loyalty. Taking care of Audrey's neurotic Dalmatian shreds Ivy's very private world as does her frequent visits to Audrey's new residence to maintain the old lady's illicit medicinal marijuana habit. Ivy finds herself coerced by an understaffed and highly stressed manager into taking on a temporary volunteer role, just as a violent crime spree implodes the usually beige world of Meadowville Retirement Village. While Ivy uses her new, if reluctant, role as Social Director to search for metaphorical skeletons in very real cupboards, she becomes inveigled into a community of unexpectedly stimulating old women. Mining their memories for their wartime service, she connects their dotty anecdotes to reveal something is indeed rotten inside the walls of Meadowville. Author of Wild Orphans