Nod Road

A small-town cop and a sixty-year-old murder mystery form the basis for this story. It's 1997 and crime in New Haven County, CT is minimal. As a policeman in Clinton, Gordy Powell has an ideal life, living on his lovely little farm in Guilford on Nod Road. He deals with an occasional robbery, car theft, some accidents and a fair share of runaways (wives, husbands, teens). Life is good, until Annie Martin's SUV sinks in Gordy's pond in the dead of winter. As Annie's father, a powerful senator, succeeds in getting the pond drained in order to straighten Nod Road, a second car, a vintage Chrysler is discovered. Inside the wreck is the murdered remains of a doctor who went missing in 1938. Gordy Powell partners with the granddaughter of the deceased doctor and they begin to work with local police and town officials to solve the mystery. Their activity sets the stage for the formation their relationship as well as the reopening of nearly forgotten wounds. The careful application of methodical police work unwittingly results in a spate of new murders and the evidence begins to yield a list of suspects. Soon it becomes clear the killer of 60 years ago was still around and willing to do anything to avoid indictment. Finally Gordy and Emily realize the identity of killer. He's in his eighties and has lived among them, undiscovered, for sixty years. What's more, it seems he's determined to continue killing if necessary. The final confrontation between the killer and Gordy leads to a devastating conclusion.