The village of Staggerford, Minnesota, forms the backdrop for two entertaining novellas that include The Staggerford Murders, in which residents of the Ransford Hotel investigate the murder of leading citizen Neddy Nichols and the disappearance of his wife, and The Life and Death of Nancy Clancy's Nephew, in which elderly W.D. Nestor finds meaning in his life through his relationship with a young boy and his centenarian aunt.