A Subtle Serpent

Zita Stillman and her lifelong friend Zinnia Blossom Winwood become embroiled in yet another murder and a series of life-changing events in the small town of Arbor Vale, Wisconsin. Professor Clayton Von Volk arrives at Zita's bed-and-breakfast, carrying with him the tragedy of a missing wife. While, after over sixty years, Zita finally learns the truth about her birth parents. She faces protestors against a plan to help at risk children. And a strange dark figure seems to be watching her home. It all comes to a climax with a power outage, a poisonous snake and a kidnapping.