Selectman and middle school teacher Wes Blauss has participated in many town meetings in his not-quite-fictional town of Hanson, Massachusetts. He's seen flipped tables, forged documents, interdepartmental trysts, cops barring the exits, and an aerial search for an illegal piggery performed by characters universal in their appeal: condescending public employees, perjured elected officials, whistleblowers, unsuccessful peace brokers, and single-issue voters who will not succumb to gavel. The one thing he has not witnessed is an actual murder, although the number of murders contemplated during a town meeting would probably astonish. This novel is his attempt to remedy that.
