Having grown up on Chicago’s South Side, Eudora is well aware of the danger of leaving cash around the house, so she puts it in the back of the freezer, a place she has been taught thieves would not think to look. When she looks for the envelope with CREW’s money in it, it is not to be found. CREW is threatening to prosecute her for embezzlement.

In addition, Eudora and her grandmother, whom she calls Mama Dee, have been receiving threats telling them to desist in their efforts to thwart the building of a shopping mall on the land Emerald Woods presently occupies.

Private investigator Kirstin and her attorney husband, Dugan have been hired to try and extricate Eudora from her dilemma. Initially thinking Eudora’s problem is simply being accused of embezzlement of a small amount of money that she did not take, Kirstin quickly learns much more must be at stake. While assessing the situation, Kirstin is followed, locked in the basement of a strange house, and Dugan is physically assaulted. Instead of being frightened or intimidated, as her attacker had intended, Kirstin becomes angry and determined to discover the identity of her pursuer, and why Eudora has been targeted as a victim.

The End of Emerald Woods has significant positive - and negative - elements. David Walker offers up some realistic, albeit quirky, characters. Kirstin and Dugan are an interesting combination. Both are impulsive, with little regard for their own safety in dangerous situations, yet extremely conservative when considering the limitations of their spouse. Mama Dee is my favorite character. She is a hard nosed, won’t-give-an-inch businesswoman, yet a caring compassionate individual toward her twin granddaughters. She is also a great judge of human nature.

The plot is straightforward, but there are some unusual plot twists at the end. I am not convinced the author built a proper foundation for the ultimate resolution of the story. The unexpected happenings, which, indeed, add more interest, seem contrived and illogical on the basis of what had happened previously. There are also two situations involving cell phones that don’t make sense to me. In the first, Kirstin drops her purse, containing her phone in a swampy area. She finds the purse strap , but in pulling on it manages to dump the contents back into the mire. She spends more than a few minutes groping in the dark for her phone. Why bother? It probably wouldn’t work, after having been totally soaked.

Mr. Walker does make some interesting comments about human nature. Mama Dee observes that having money didn’t really help the prospective developer of Emerald Woods much in the rearing of his sons, yet it was of paramount interest to him to have money to leave to his heirs. Eudora, despite her rather inauspicious start in life, seems to have the inborn ability, coupled with the desire to succeed, to do well by her children. Though not profound, two thoughts worthy of consideration by all. However, the action scenes and the denouement in The End of Emerald Woods are much too off-the-wall to satisfy this reviewer.

--Andy Plonka