Vincent H. O'neil

Contest of Wills: a Frank Cole Mystery Vincent H. O'neil

When we last saw Frank Cole in EXILE TRUST, he'd solved a twenty year-old murder and had also helped his good friend Gray Toliver uncover a plot to break into the Exile town bank's safe deposit area. He was still saddled with the massive debt from his bankruptcy, was still working as a low-paid fact-checker, and was still dating local photographer Beth Ann Thibedault. In CONTEST OF WILLS, Frank gets a new job, a new friend, and a new case: When Frank signs on as a fact-checker for a Tallahassee law firm, he has no idea what's in store for him. The firm's lead investigator, brash Jimmy Hanigan, quickly introduces him to the darker side of private investigations work. Then the firm's owner, Walter Daley, tells them that his old friend and client Chester Pratt has died of a prescription drug interaction-and that Pratt's will is missing. Frank and Jimmy soon discover that everyone named in the missing will was at Pratt's birthday party the night he died, and that he'd already had a close call with the same medication months before. Frank's photographer girlfriend Beth Ann steps in when Frank and Jimmy get hold of the pictures from the birthday party, and her help doesn't end in the darkroom: Against Frank's wishes, Jimmy Hanigan soon has her working undercover in places where he and Frank would be recognized. As the trio dig deeper into the case, they learn that Pratt's death may have indeed been an accident, that no one in his family seems to want his fortune, and that an old nemesis from Frank's first case is dogging their steps. In no time at all, it's a true Contest of Wills in sunny Florida.