EAST OF PECULIAR is Suzann Ledbetter's first mystery (she is author of a dozen other books including a biography, 10 novels and 2 humor books) and its a funny and involving story set in the Missouri Ozarks, a place the author knows intimately. Readers are going to love Hannah Garvey, the former ad exec in Chicago who throws over that life to manage a retirement home deep in the Ozarkian hills. There is a murder there and Hannah and the local sheriff become involved in the solution to the crime and inevitably become involved with each other. Ledbetter is a terrific character-creator and has a lot of fun, as readers will, with her cast of retirement home characters, all turning amateur sleuths to "help" solve the crime at Valhalla Springs.