Who killed the vibe in Flanders, Massachusetts? The answer awaits in Part of the Solution: A Mystery, in which author Elana Michelson blends the plot of a classic murder mystery with the offbeat energy of the 1970s. The result is a witty, nostalgic whodunit steeped in classic oldies, Tarot cards and an atmosphere that smells faintly of patchouli and revolution.
Set in 1978, Part of the Solution drops readers into the heart of a small Massachusetts town where counterculture ideals still hum beneath the surface. Flanders is a haven for poets, artisans and political dreamers, the kind of place where craft shops sit beside food co-ops and music feels inseparable from meaning. That carefully cultivated peace shatters when a murder disrupts the town’s communal calm, forcing residents to confront the tensions simmering beneath their mellow exterior.
At the center of the mystery is Jennifer Morgan, a sharp-eyed New Yorker who has fled graduate school in search of something more soulful. She finds it, at least temporarily, in Flanders’ poetry readings and home-baked muffins. When death intrudes, Jennifer refuses to stand by as suspicion and paranoia threaten to unravel the community she has come to love. Encouraged by her Tarot-reading housemate and blocked at every turn by a police chief openly hostile to hippie culture, she begins asking questions others would rather avoid.
The list of suspects reads like a roll call of 1970s archetypes: a woodworker with a carefully guarded past, a poet fueled by ego as much as idealism, an anti-war hero carrying emotional scars, a peace-minded minister and an organic farmer with grudges rooted deep in the soil. As clues surface, from tainted pickles to questionable substances hidden in unexpected places, Flanders transforms from pastoral retreat to pressure cooker.
Jennifer’s investigation eventually intersects with Ford McDermot, a young police officer whose intelligence and restraint set him apart from his superiors. Their uneasy alliance adds another layer to the story, blending skepticism and attraction against a backdrop of mistrust and cultural divides.
Michelson’s novel does more than solve a crime. It captures a moment when music, politics and personal identity were inseparable, weaving references to the era’s soundtrack and ideals into every chapter. For readers who lived through the 1970s, the book offers a vivid return to a time of lava lamps and protest songs. For younger audiences, it provides a window into a period defined by experimentation, hope and contradiction.
By merging classic mystery structure with cultural reflection, Part of the Solution becomes both a clever whodunit and a meditation on community, justice and the enduring question of how to live by one’s ideals without losing sight of reality.