Scrappy blue-collar Ski Sloop and cool blue-blood Janet Cooper are the push-pull mainstay investigators in a new series that moves beyond cozy mystery into the gripping realm of political intrigue and anti-gay backlash of the early 1990s.

Murder in the Village introduces curmudgeon bartender, Ski Sloop, a preppy former biz whiz. Her Spartan lifestyle is upended when her ex, Pat Loren, overdoses and leaves her a co-op, a mint, and a squirreled-away son, all coveted by Pat’s family. Bar buddies investigate the so-called suicide and go up against Pat’s holier-than-thou rabid relatives, anti-gay vigilantes, reticent lawyers, politically incorrect cops, and Ski’s nemesis—Pat’s snooty, stately, elegant, blond and blue-eyed girlfriend, a grad student and in-your-face activist, Janet Cooper. Taunts, threats, and attacks follow in the “Bar Association’s” wake. They drop their guard—and the killer strikes again.