The sequel to NOBODY'S FOOL, it follows a now 70 year old Sully, ready to die because of a heart condition which he won't have treated. His buddy, Rub, from the previous novel is now joined by another buddy, Sully's dog also named Rub which causes much silly confusion. Sully is the same old guy, crusty, hard working, avoiding, if he can, what he chooses to call 'stupid streaks.' He still goes each morning to Hattie's for breakfast where his married lover, Ruth works and drinks at the White Horse Tavern most evenings, enjoying the company of other husbands, who prefer the bar and male companionship to sitting home with their wives. In this novel, however, he's flush, having inherited Miss Peoples house, to the dismay of her son. He now rents out rooms to his former boss, who has been thrown out of his house by his wife, finally.
This story differs in that two new characters are introduced, one, Douglas Raymer, Bath's Chief of Police, who spends most of the novel testing garage door openers to see which garage it opens, the opener supposedly left behind by his dead wife's lover. The other character, briefly mentioned in NOBODY'S FOOL is Roy Purdy, who has just gotten out of prison, the novel's villain, pure and simple, who hates Sully, vows to kill him, beats up his wife, Sully's lover's daughter and eventually meets his demise by the end of the novel, much to the delight of the entire town of Bath. Reader alert: Sully survives, lives to tell more stories so we can look forward to Sully in his 80's in a few years.
A good read, satisfying and filled with memorable characters, Sully being the most thoroughly drawn and enjoyed.
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