Fireworks are supposed to light up the night sky on the Fourth of July. They’re not supposed to come flying into the front lawn of the Happy Haven Retirement Home and strike one of the residents in his keister. 

But that’s just what happens to gallant Lester Mills, new resident, and charming gentleman, who has risen to offer his seat to fellow resident and amateur sleuth Essie Cobb, when the rocket’s red glare smashes into both of them. 

As the unconscious Lester is hailed a hero for saving Essie and hauled off to the local hospital, Essie is left to wonder how and why the firecracker landed so precisely on both of them. 

Was it really an accident? Did a rocket from the nearby city fireworks’ display go awry? Or is there something more sinister behind the explosion? 

Essie is determined to find out - after all, what else is Reardon’s most prolific senior citizen/detective to do when she’s been firecrackered? 

Patricia Rockwell's fifth book in her Essie Cobb senior sleuth mystery series. A light, humorous, cozy mystery!