GLOUCESTER, Mass. - BostonChron -- Dead Obligations by John Dandola is the fourteenth Tony Del Plato mystery novel set during the 1940's. Like its predecessors, this story is steeped in time period, locale, and character study. Communication relies on telephone booths and telegrams instead of cell phones. Wartime gas rationing is involved in physically tracking down clues. But a timeless human element remains in the forefront.

"I have always been a proponent of characters interacting realistically with one another," says Dandola. "Yes, the plot of a mystery may involve theft or murder—both with great intricacies—but it's how the characters evolve and relate to one another which makes it all hang believably together.  Patty was introduced into  this series as a tomboy in high school. Now she's in college and matured into a fashionable young lady. That's something to be explored."

The synopsis:

In January of 1945, Patty Drury begins her second semester at college in Massachusetts and Tony Del Plato rents himself a nearby bungalow to save on hotel bills whenever he visits from out of state. Unexpectedly, through local contacts, Tony winds up being hired to locate a young woman who is the heir to a rather large estate. But after several puzzling episodes, it seems the young woman may wind up dead before she inherits anything.

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While keeping up with her college studies and volleyball practices, Patty still proves to be a great deal of help with the case as the dynamic between herself and Tony begins to change.

Dandola's Dead series of mysteries alternates between Gloucester, his hometown in New Jersey, and Hollywood. The Gloucester connection comes from Dandola being the biographer of inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr. Hammond himself floats in and out of the stories because Dandola's New Jersey hometown is where Thomas Edison lived and where Hammond worked with Edison on a top secret project during World War I. Hammond and Edison's youngest son remained lifelong friends. The Hollywood connection comes from Dandola's screenwriting and his extensive knowledge of movie history.

Dead Obligations is 238 pages and, in a constant battle with always rising production costs, is priced at $18.95. Following the lead of so many other small  publishing houses, it is not available at Amazon.com. For easy and secure publisher-direct sales go to https://www.quincannongroup.com/DelPlatoMysteries.html