Amazon Customer

When David is drafted at the last minute to cover a class on human sexuality, he prepares by attending a sex therapists conference, where a fellow attendee confides that she’s being blackmailed over illicitly obtained sex tapes. Things take a sinister turn when murder is thrown into the mix, and as David fumbles his way through his first mystery, he discovers he has a talent for sleuthing—and for finding himself in sticky situations.

It’s 1984, and David is off the couch once more and providing support to the team-building efforts of a publishing start-up at the LA Dodgers Adult Fantasy Camp in Florida. As David seeks the elusive home run that will elevate his love life from the minors, team rivalries simmer, and he is drawn into a web of lies, suspicion, and drug smuggling. Teambuilding becomes less of a goal and more of a necessity as members start to show up dead.

When a musician client asks David to accompany him to the 1982 US Festival, death is the last thing on his mind. Angry groupies can be passionate, sure, but murder? Nah. David’s optimism is swiftly rocked and rolled when exotic drugs and death appear as supporting acts and the festival mood shifts. Even the lovely Lilah can’t distract David from reality. His client needs help. He has to act. Flexing his sleuthing muscles, David noodles around from one thing to another. Info is sketchy, and time is running out—the bass isn’t the only thing dropping as more bodies are found.

While reluctantly attending a therapist conference, David is relieved to find escape from his colleagues when a random stranger asks for his help. But curiosity can be a curse. He’s unwittingly drawn into a family feud, and doesn’t need to attend classes to know these never end well. Sure enough, people start dying, and a cryptic note, snarky siblings, and an intimidating wine magnate all conspire to test David’s sleuthing abilities—and his breaking-and-entering skills. A class for this might be more beneficial.

The ninth instalment of the popular Lesson series–featuring therapist, professor, and reluctant sleuth David Unger. David’s chakras are stimulated, and he takes a skeptical step into the unknown when he’s asked to support at the Santa Monica Whole Life Expo–bad juju is coming, and positive therapeutic auras are required. Murder soon spoils the cosmic karma, and with the posse on hand to spice up the mystic mix, David’s sleuthing leads him to places he’s never been before and most likely won’t return to.

David reluctantly joins members of his high school bridge club at their 20th class reunion in the hope of solving a personal mystery from his own past. But reuniting soon delivers a few unwelcome truths, and fear sets in when a classmate is found dead. As old rivalries and resentments flare, the gathering on the Queen Mary in Long Beach for a weekend of memory-making brings forth more murder. David enjoys a high school flashback with an old flame but is left with more questions than answers.

More than 300,000 people sweltered in the San Bernardino desert at the 1982 US Festival featuring Tom Petty, the Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, and Jackson Browne, among others. David, a therapist and professor, was there to support a nervous client, a musician who was going to perform at the festival. Indeed, he had reason to worry.