My wife is a retired school librarian, but as one of her several post-full-time-employment gigs (which include teaching courses at the University of Illinois library school), she is working part time at a local independent bookstore.
One evening a couple of months ago she came home from work at the bookstore, looking somewhat bedraggled, and remarked that an unusual number of customers that day had been rude or disrespectful to the bookstore staff. The very next day, the latest edition of the Yale Law Report arrived in our mail, in which John Barkett told us about erstwhile tax lawyer John Adney’s novel, “The Plumbers’ Retreat.” My wife and and I laughed out loud when I read the summary of the plot in the class notes, as the problem she was encountering at work was the same problem the four main characters in the book – four plumbers – were trying to deal with, namely that their customers didn’t treat them with respect. So, we promptly ordered a copy of John’s book.
Having now read the book, I can report that it is an excellent piece of work, with an interesting story line and main characters who are well-developed as the plot progresses. It was a ‘page turner’ for me and I would recommend it to everyone. I’ll stop there so I don’t release any plot spoilers (including whether the problem was solved).