Book excerpt: The Sour Cherry Surprise, the next in this solidly entertaining series from David Handler, promises more twists and turns for the likable odd couple, and an astounding, heart-pounding conclusion. Something has gone very wrong on bucolic Sour Cherry Lane. A straight-arrow high school student has started throwing wild sex parties. The distinguished history professor across the lane has gone missing. His estranged wife, a popular author of children's books, is strung out on crystal meth. And the new man in her life is under surveillance by a joint federal and state drug task force. It's not exactly a day in Yankee paradise for Desiree Mitry, the alluring resident trooper of Dorset, Connecticut. Especially when you throw in those unwelcome fainting spells she's been having ever since she broke it off with pudgy New York film critic Mitch Berger and took up again with her ex-husband, U.S. Attorney Brandon Stokes. Mitch has moved on with his life, saying good-bye to Dorset and hello to a new high-profile television career. Not to mention a newly slimmed-down and styled self. Des is completely out of his system. Or so Mitch thinks. Des, meanwhile, is furious to discover that a major drug cartel has been operating in Dorset right under her nose. Matters escalate when one of those troubled Sour Cherry Lane residents turns up dead. Des pursues the case in her own way. The problem is that her way gets her in way too deep. And there's only person who can possibly get her out. The question isn't whether Mitch will ride to her rescue. The question is whether the two of them will live to tell about it.