Shaving with Occam

The first nineteen years of Henrietta Brigander’s life were distinguished by matchless luxury: summers at Newport and Saratoga, outings on her father’s yacht, cotillions on the dance cards of Kennedys and Vanderbilts. Then a schizophrenic break followed by a series of devastating financial setbacks left her destitute on the streets of New York City. Yet Henrietta never looks back, carving out a niche for herself as “Granny Flamingo, aka The Mad Bird Lady of East 14th Street.” But when she suspects one of her fellow psychiatric patients has been murdered, Henrietta is forced into yet another role—that of relentless detective.