Ticked Off!

IT LOOKS LIKE A MURDER THAT COULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED. Don Michaels (a/k/a Mr. Mike), owner of an upscale beauty salon in Punta Gorda, Florida, is found dead in his condo, with a knife wound in his back. The knife, wiped clean, is on the table beside him. Every door and window is locked from the inside and there are no fingerprints anywhere.

Baffled, police Lieutenant Denardo turns to Professor Bartley, head of the psychology department at Southwest Florida University. The professor and Jack Riley, his young assistant, agree to aid in the investigation. Jack, who has a definite weakness for female charm, is not at all reluctant, for it develops that many beautiful women have figured in the life of Don Michaels. Charcoal sketches of them line the walls of his condo, all nudes, and all drawn by Don, who had been an amorous esthete with a taste and talent for art. The investigation reveals that his affairs had been numerous, as well as overlapping-and most of them with patrons of his salon.

Professor Bartley feels that all of these women are suspects and Jack is given the not unwelcome assignment of dating and interviewing them. The manner in which he accomplishes this, and the tangled chain of events he uncovers, provides an amusing and exciting background for the plot. There are additional murders, and conflicting clues, but finally the evidence gathered by Jack enables the professor to arrive at the solution through clever psychological deduction.

TICKED OFF! IN FLORIDA, by Gaila Ozaki Perran, is based upon her 2003 novel, also entitled TICKED OFF!, which was placed in Westport, Connecticut. Ms. Perran's first TICKED OFF! novel was based upon the book THE CUCKOO CLOCK, placed in Chicago, IL, written by her father Milton K. Ozaki in 1946.

The murder and consequential activity surrounding this creative mystery story has been modernized and injected into Punta Gorda, Florida's downtown business area and surrounding neighborhoods. Ms. Perran has used the names of actual people and places of business wherever permitted.