In Lieu of Flowers

When Billy Barnes--founder of the most popular jazz band in Indian Lake Ohio--is shot dead at a July Fourth riot everyone in town is wary of calling it a murder. But a bit farther north of Indian Lake one would-be gumshoe is unconvinced by the coroners ruling of an accidental bullet wound to the chest. Anäel has been Billys guardian angel for twenty-four years--and before he can move on to his next assignment he has vowed to solve the mystery of his beloved wards death.Eulogizing Billys life at the same time it eulogizes the 1950s In Lieu of Flowers is a murder mystery steeped in all the magic and all the ugliness of the decade. Like Mitch Alboms The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto and John Irvings A Prayer for Owen Meany Charles W. Raths In Lieu of Flowers attempts to reconcile the earthly with the ethereal mourning humankinds excesses while marveling at its capacity for love loyalty and creativity.