Hey, Diddle, Diddle, the Cat and the Riddle

Re: Murder of a Sweet Old Lady by Denise Swanson

This is the title of Chapter One of this book and sets the stage for what is about to happen.

Skye Denison is a school psychologist and each day after school she goes to visit her elderly grandmother, Grandma Leofanti. Grandma Leofanti lives in a farmhouse in the country. She has a live-in caretaker to help her since her mind is not what it used to be but physically she is very healthy.

On this particular day when Skye goes to visit, the caretaker is nowhere to be found. The cat is on the front porch and it is never allowed outside. Skye senses something is wrong and after searching the house finds her grandmother on her bed with the covers pulled up over her head. She is dead, leaving Skye to wonder what is going on and who pulled the covers over her grandmother’s dead body? And why did she die, since Grandma Leofanti’s doctor said there was nothing wrong with her physically?

So Skye has to notify her family and the authorities. Among the first to show up is Skye’s ‘Uncle Charlie’. He is not really her uncle, he is her godfather. All 6-feet, 300 pounds of him. Next up is Simon Reid, the local coroner and funeral home director. Skye is also dating him. (Reminds me of an episode from Season One of the TV show “The Nanny” where Fran the Nanny is dating the funeral director and all the jokes that come out of that situation.)

Anyway Simon and Grandma Leofanti’s doctor do an autopsy and discover that Grandma did not die of natural causes - she was murdered.