(6/10 stars)

“As for his having been framed—well, who was this unknown man? Who had ever seen him, who had ever heard of him? He was a man of straw.”

Not long ago, Lincoln Hunter was a man who had everything: a big inheritance, a lovely new wife, and a $100,000 life insurance policy from Commonwealth Assurance of Boston.

This isn’t the first time claims adjuster Jeff DiMarco has been tapped to investigate a murder relating to an insurance client. But this time the policyholder isn’t the victim—he’s the suspected killer. Lincoln Hunter has been convicted of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend, and sentenced to death. When he’s executed, Commonwealth will be on the hook for a big payout…unless Jeff can prove that someone else committed the crime. Continue reading “Straw Man (1951) by Doris Miles Disney”