DEADLY REAL ESTATE.

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Author: Klett, Rex E.1

Commercial real estate development-the destruction of old buildings and the clearing of wooded tracts for new construction-is a theme that increasingly pops up in mystery fiction. What developers might term the "highest and best use" of property often has repercussions that provide motives for murder, at least for fictional characters. For example, local battles over the change in use of prime spots become instrumental to murder in Amy Myer's The Wickenham Murders and Sandra Balzo's Uncommon Grounds, while Susan Froetschel imbues the plot of Interruptions with a noisy conflict about the effects of a new road through unspoiled Alaskan wilderness.

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By Rex E. Klett

Rex E. Klett is director of Learning Resources, Mitchell Community College, Statesville, NC