Unstuff Your Stuff

By Mike Befeler

68-year-old Millicent Hargrove returns from her Tuesday night bridge game to her house in Boulder, Colorado, to find her husband, George, dead on the floor with a knife in his chest.
At the funeral, a man she doesn’t know comes up and hands her an envelope. He explains that with George’s death, she will receive special compensation for some work that George once did for the government. She asks what the work was, but he only says it was classified and he can’t discuss it with her.
As she cleans out all her stuff to move from her house to a condo, she discovers that she’s good at organizing her things. Her friends encourage her to start a personal organizing business.
Millicent gives it some thought and decides it’s a good idea. She calls her business, Unstuff Your Stuff.
Millicent gains clients but struggles with her new life and cryptic clues left by her husband.
Men hit on her, but she doesn’t want to get involved in any relationship, although she likes the father of the young man who helped her move to her condo.
As she develops a successful organizing business while sorting through the clutter from the secret life her husband led she escapes attempts on her own life and figures out the mystery of the cryptic messages left by her husband.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Encircle Publications
• Release date: Oct 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781948338103

Mike Befeler

In the May, 2008, issue of the AARP Bulletin Mike Befeler was identified as one of four authors in a new emerging mystery sub-genre. Harlan Coben, president of Mystery Writers of America stated, “We’ve just scratched the surface on geezer-lit. It could be the next frontier in crime fiction.” Mike turned his attention to speaking and fiction writing after a career in high technology marketing. His debut novel, RETIREMENT HOMES ARE MURDER, was published January, 2007. The second novel in his Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series, LIVING WITH YOUR KIDS IS MURDER, appeared April, 2009 and was a finalist for the Lefty Award for the best humorous mystery of 2009. The third book in the series, SENIOR MOMENTS ARE MURDER, was published in August, 2011. The fourth book, CRUISING IN YOUR EIGHTIES, was a finalist for The Lefty Award for the best humorous mystery of 2012. The fifth book, CARE HOMES ARE MURDER, was released in July, 2013 and the sixth book, NURSING HOMES ARE MURDER, in 2014,. He also has two published paranormal mysteries: THE V V AGENCY and THE BACK WING. Other published books include an international thriller, THE TESLA LEGACY, and standalone mysteries UNSTUFF YOUR STUFF, DEATH OF A SCAM ARTIST, COURT TROUBLE, MURDER ON THE SWITZERLAND TRAIL, MYSTERY OF THE DINNER PLAYHOUSE. Mike is past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He is an acclaimed speaker and presents “The Secret of Growing Older Gracefully—Aging and Other Minor Inconveniences” "How to Survive Retirement" and "Rejection Is Not a Four Letter Word" to service organizations and senior groups. He grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, lived in Boulder, Colorado, and now resides in Lakewood, CA, with his wife, Wendy. http://www.mikebefeler.com