A Hole In The Ground

A Justinian Kase Mystery

An injured old man, running for his life is the beginning of a plot that thickens quickly for the old man's only living relatives. Willard Parker has just staged his own death, so that he might live a few more years without his nemesis, the Vinegar Hills Mine Company becoming aware that they have failed in their attempt on his life. Justinian Kase is brought into the mix after Willard's nephew, Ron Parker, inherits the farm and discovers a break-in with apparently nothing missing from the house. They begin to think that foul play was the actual cause of Willard's death rather than the conveniently explained "farm accident" with horrific barn fire that followed. With life on the farm in bucolic Galena, Illinois beginning to appeal to Ron and his wife Irma, events begin to unfold with dangerous consequences. A cavern on the property leads Ron and Kase deeper into the mystery where they become the new targets for the lead mining company.