Learning his wife of forty-six years, the gravitational center of his life and his family has stage 3 cancer, Palmer Comstock, the hard-driving CEO of a Fortune 1000 company retires. He intends to make whatever time his wife has left the best it can be.
On the way to his retirement party, Palmer is shot and left for dead. Friends, family, and business associates are amazed he was targeted. Does the rationale lie within the company he helped grow from a struggling concern to a major player? Or does it relate to his family, his past, or some unknown or unrelated circumstances?
While Palmer clings tenuously to life, St. Paul Police Commander Peter Culnane and his partner, Detective Sergeant Martin Tierney, are assigned the case. Their investigation stretches from the Twin Cities to northern Minnesota to Arizona and back. With assistance from the Hallock and Pequot Lakes police, they uncover critical details that steer their investigation.
The pressure is on for Pete, because of the eagerly awaited birth of his first child, who is due any day.

 
A Party to Murder: Eighth Pete Culnane Mystery
by S. L. Smith
ISBN 979-8-8590873-6-5
Mystery set in St. Paul, MN
Sightline Press • September, 2023
6 x 9 • Paperback • 260 pp