John Ingalls

The Woman in the Emerald Casket John Ingalls

Maggie O'Reilly died on a Wednesday because she planned it that way. Maggie was a good Catholic widow. She had six children, gave generously to the church and never drank Guinness on Sundays. Everyone knew she was loaded. She had money too. She smoked cigarettes but they were low tar. Every Friday, she ate fish, wore black and went to confession at St. Michael's Parish. Facing serious health concerns and estranged from her children, she wants to know if they love her, but she doesn't know how to ask the question and she doesn't trust their answers. Inspired by a Time Magazine article about unclaimed bodies in major city morgues around the United States, Maggie formulates a plan to claim a body and stage her own funeral and then attend the funeral in disguise to hear what people say. Caught in a dysfunctional love triangle between Patrick Murphy and Mick Torkelson, she bribes her priest, Father Shamus Muldoon and coerces Mick to become co-conspirators in a scheme to fake her death in an effort to discover her children's true feelings. However, Maggie's oldest daughter, Mary, sees behavior changes and enlists a local doctor in an effort to get her declared incompetent, but when her efforts go too far, Maggie feels betrayed and her quest for answers takes a dark turn. The Woman in the Emerald Casket is a family friendly mystery thriller that will keep you turning pages long past bedtime. The Woman in the Emerald Casket highlights problems with elderly parents who may refuse care or make irrational decisions. How to care for aging parents and manage difficult family relationships are real problems without easy answers.