Book excerpt: Life is ripe with good times and plenty of beer when Mrs. Feeley welcomes her new friend, the musical Miss Tinkham, to share her San Diego home and junkyard, Noah’s Ark. It’s not long before the gourmet culinarian Mrs. Rasmussen moves in, too, and the three elderly ladies bask in their joie de vivre. But the party is cut short when they discover the property taxes have been pocketed by a swindling lawyer. The three wisecracking women must use their collective smarts to raise the money before they lose their home—and maybe fit in a trip to Tijuana if they can earn a little extra. With this first book of Mary Lasswell’s to feature the “Arkies,” you’ll be hard pressed to not grin along with the charm of Lasswell’s characters. Go back to the ’40s in this authentic piece of Americana and see how the story of your new three favorite ladies begins.