It's a bit strange to read a contemporary book that is set 30 years ago. But still, the story is quite fun.
It seems that Kinsey Milhone is having some down time, i.e. no jobs. But then the police call her to identify a body they found on the beach. It's a homeless man. All his personal affects had been lifted, except for a piece of paper in his pocket with Kinsey's name and phone number. So, why did a homeless guy have Kinsey's number? Had he planned to consult her about a gig?
Since she has down time, Kinsey hangs out with some homeless folks and eventually learn a few things about the guy. His name was Terrance. Later on, she learns he is R. Terrance Dace, and eventually, it dawns on Kinsey that Dace is actually a distant cousin from the side of the family she knew nothing about.
So, Kinsey hunts up folks on that side of the family to tell them about the missing relative. The guy had had three kids, all of whom had cut him off. Having been cut off, he fingers Kinsey as next of kin and his sole inheritor. It seems he had quite a lot to inherit, and the kids suddenly become irate with Kinsey.
Then, there's a sketchy private detective who had been hired to check in on the spouse of a rich, but sketchy medical doctor. The sketchy private eye hired one of Kinsey's old flames, Deitz, to do the leg work for him, but then stiffs Deitz when it comes time to settle up. Deitz shows up, mad at Kinsey, but eventually realizes they'd both been had. Kinsey never suggested the sketchy guy.
Oh, and the sketchy doctor? Well, it seems that he had something to do with the dead, homeless guy at one time. So, we get rather a convoluted, but also rather fun, tale of suspense and intrigue.
One serious problem I think: it seems that Kinsey learns for the first time that old flame, Deitz was fairly well off. Even though they had some off and on flings, she never knew before that he had money. How in the hell do you live with someone for several months at a time, more than once, and never know that he had lots of money backing him up? That part makes no sense. The rest, mostly does. Despite this flaw, the book is a GoodRead.