AMONG RICH NORTHEASTERN SUBURBANITES, POLITICS CAN BE POISON.Hancock, Connecticut--a historic enclave of wealth and conservatism--is in the final heat of a three-way mayoral election when long-shot candidate Ivan Deakin takes a sip of cyanide-laced water and is retired to the morgue.His murder exacerbates an already fierce controversy over proposed changes in rules governing the landmark status of local real estate--changes that would drastically alter property values. Like everyone else, amateur sleuth Susan Henshaw suspects unusually dirty politics and when her husband--who's running for town council--is tarred in the general smearing, Susan gets serious about finding Ivan's killer. But the possibilities are myriad, for Ivan Deakin was a political loose cannon, and the murkiness of his business deals is matched only by the notoriety of his romantic adventures. . . . Read Less