The Parting Glass

Mrs. Meade feels that the facts don't add up. But why won't the accused defend himself? Mrs. Meade is not the only one in Sour Springs who is shocked at the news when Clyde Renfrew is accused of a drunken assault on a woman. Clyde, a sober, steady young rancher, seemed the last person likely to do such a thing. Between an emphatic witness and Clyde’s own apparent reluctance to defend himself, the case seems open and shut. But Mrs. Meade—who seems to have a knack for being just across the hall when things happen—has a few ideas of her own… The Parting Glass is a novelette, approximately 12,500 words long. If you're a fan of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Anna Katharine Green's Miss Amelia Butterworth, you'll love this quick trip back to the mountain West of the Edwardian era, with a shrewd lady sleuth to apply her wits to its puzzles.