When Angels Sleep

Edwina Hartley is a housewife in her early sixties, a recent widow after thirty-five years of marriage where she filtered all of her thoughts and ideas through her husband, George’s, eyes. She now has to think for herself, and it doesn’t come easy. When George died, he left behind a chaotic swamp, and Edwina is completely lost. He turned out to be a closet gambler, cashing in their insurance policies and mortgaging their palatial home. No doubt, he thought when he retired in a few months, he could recoup some of what he’d lost. Apparently, he didn’t count on dying. Then the CEO of the accounting firm where George worked for twenty-five years comes to tell Edwina that they suspect George of embezzling $50,000 and, of course, they won’t be honoring his retirement. And a threatening bookie begins to call, telling her that just because George is dead, it doesn’t excuse his gambling debts, which she is now expected to pay. Next, the banker calls to say that George was in arrears, and she has to catch up the mortgage or they will have to foreclose. So now she not only has to prove that he never embezzled any money—or else find another source of income to make up for his lost retirement—she also beings to suspect that George didn’t die of natural causes…