Meanwhile, a book given to him in jest, may in fact be a primer for the disaffected rich to move the country away from democracy to autocracy by whatever means, including violence. Monk thinks this is silly until people connected to the book start dying. Foolishly drawn into this scheme, along with Agnes' sudden interest in sleuthing, Monk finds that they are now targets themselves, and decide to play along to learn more, even if it leads them to their possible demise.
An engineer for 40 years, Mr. Pearce, following open-heart surgery, decided to pursue his muse and write. He is the author of the Monk Buttman Mystery series. When not writing, Mr. Pearce is the accomplished recording artist, Mr. Primitive. He and his wife live in Kenmore, Washington.