The Mandible Trilogy

Book excerpt: Professor Paul Mandible, on leave in France from teaching English on a U.S. Navy ship, experiences a personal renaissance within moments of meeting the rich and beautiful Collette Doublet at a sidewalk café in Nice. But first, Paul must deal with Bunny, his compulsion-riddled, Bible belt, neurotic wife of twenty-seven years, and his mundane teaching job at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa. Paul enlists Collette's help to divorce Bunny in Mexico. But when Bunny is brutally murdered, Paul is arrested by the Mexican authorities, although he didn't kill her. Upon his release, Paul marries Collette and they reside in her villa in Nice, France. Life is anything but dull for Paul who has succeeded in escaping his weary life in Iowa. First, Paul learns that his father, Harry, will inherit an unexpected fortune from his long-lost genetic father, Eduardo, who died in his native Spain. Harry wants nothing to do with the money, so Paul travels to Spain to collect and finds himself in jeopardy. Then while vacationing in Africa, Paul discovers some startling information about his relatives, and he must make some difficult decisions to set the record straight.