Beyond a Reasonable Duck: A Simpato Mystery (The Simpato Mystery Series Book 3)

Small-town politics. Missing ducks. One very inconvenient murder.

Sal DeVine is ready to put the past behind her. After a suspension engineered by her ex-husband, she's finally set to resume practicing law in the wine-growing town of Simpato. With the annual Pato Parade and the town's famous Duck Dessert festival on the horizon, summer should be a celebration.

Instead, a scheduling blunder puts the two beloved traditions on a collision course. Tempers flare, outside protesters descend on town, and the festivities take a deadly turn when one of the demonstrators is found floating in the church's duck pond. Then the town's ducks vanish without a trace.

As suspicion spreads through Simpato, Sal must navigate feuding neighbors, political agendas, and plenty of questionable motives. Armed with sharp legal instincts and an eye for the truth, she'll have to uncover the killer before the next victim is someone she knows.

Packed with clever twists, quirky characters, wine-country charm, cannabis-cookie-selling nuns, and enough bad duck puns to ruffle a few feathers, Beyond a Reasonable Duck is another delightfully entertaining installment in the Simpato Mystery Series.

About the Author

Claudia H. Long is the author of 8 novels, including three in the Simpato Mystery Series and three in the Zara and Lilly series, one of which has been optioned for a major feature film. When she’s not writing stories, she’s a lawyer in Northern California, where she lives amid wineries and geysers in Napa County, with her husband and too many animals. And she is the owner of the new bookstore, Read Head Books.

Praise for Murder without a Duck, the first in The Simpato Mysteries

“A good old-fashioned mystery with just the right amount of wit, humor and long-held secrets.”
—Denise Allan Steele, author of Rewind

“A tongue-in-cheek murder mystery with a hilariously irreverent cast of characters.”
—Kelly Oliver, author of The Jessica James Mysteries

“If you like murder mysteries with a different twist, Murder without A Duck will fit the bill (pun intended). If you’re looking for an entertaining read, don’t duck out (pun also intended) on this one.”
—David H. Perlstein, author of Taking Stock