Henry, Sue: The End of the Road

The town of Homer, Alaska, is located at the head of a sand spit that goes several miles into Kachemak Bay. Homer is known as “the end of the road.” The past few years Maxie McNabb has been spending winters in her motor home in the south 48. This year, however, she has decided she needs a winter at home. In this book, Maxie and her mini-dachshund “Stretch” take a walk on the spit one fall day and encounter a stranger. As it begins to rain and blow, Maxie offers the stranger, John Walker, a ride back to town to The Driftwood Inn where he is staying. They discuss books and other things and Maxie invites John to a gathering at her home the following evening.

The evening goes well with good food, fellowship, and books exchanged. Monday morning, books that a friend of Maxie’s had loaned John Walkerat the party were on her porch, with a note of thanks and farewell from John. She assumed he had left town on the bus as he had mentioned. When she gets a call from the owner of the Driftwood Inn and is later transferred to a State trooper, she suspects he may have stolen goods, but when she gets there it seems to be she is part of a homicide investigation. John Walker has been found dead in his bed, an apparent suicide. She has very little to tell the State Trooper, so is sent on her way.

Running errands, the next day, Maxie returns the books John Walker had borrowed to her friend Lew and then goes to the local liquor store to replenish her supply which had been decimated by the party over the weekend. While there she stops at the whiskey display and the name Johnnie Walker jumped out at her. Looking at the rest of the display she reads, Jack Daniels, Austin Nichols, and several other male names used as brands for whiskey.

Solving this mystery involves a twisted tale of a long ago love triangle in far away New York City. It also nearly gets Maxie killed, but her faithful Stretch and an on the ball State Trooper save her for more stories down the road.

Review by Margie Gilbert