The Scared Stiff (Digital Original)

By: Donald E. Westlake

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Synopsis: A couple&’s insurance scam could turn a faked death into a real one, in this witty crime thriller by the Edgar Award–winning author of the Dortmunder novels. After more than a decade of skipping out on their debts, Lola and Barry owe a lot of money to the wrong people. To escape the loan sharks, Barry decides it&’s time for one of them to die—or at least to pretend to. As the venue for this insurance fraud, they choose Lola&’s home country, Guerrera, where death certificates come cheap and government record-keeping is sketchy at best. There is only one problem: la familia. After Barry&’s &“death,&” Lola returns to the US, leaving her husband in the hands of her family as he begins to assume her brother&’s identity. But the South-American hospitality of Lola&’s relatives soon wears thin as they realize that their lives might be easier if Barry&’s death weren&’t just an act. Conning an insurance company is tricky enough, but no matter the country, no one is more dangerous than the in-laws.