The Table Ladies are back with a new mystery

After the success of their debut mystery “Where’s Laura?” in 2016, the Table Ladies are back with “Winter Comes.”

The residents of Longwood at Oakmont retirement community, whose ages range from 80 to 94, are still writing under the collective name of Octavia Long , and referring to themselves as The Tuesday Table Ladies (because that was the day they always had dinner together).

They have frequently been asked, “When is the next book coming out?”

“We had so enjoyed working together in writing the first one that we decided to do it again,” says Anne Ducanis, retired professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Winter Comes” is a sequel to “Where’s Laura?”

Six of the original group of eight who wrote the debut authored “Winter Comes.”

Ducanis says they are very much looking forward to meeting their readers and other writers at A Gathering of Authors in Oakmont, Sept. 27. “It’s a fun, entertaining setting. We have really enjoyed the two previous gatherings we have participated in,” she says.

Meet the authors

In addition to Ducanis, they are:

• Doreen Boyce, retired economics professor, past president of the Buhl Foundation, Oxford graduate, and past provost and dean of faculty at Chatham University.

• Constance Fischer, retired Duquesne University professor who has a doctorate in psychology.

• Margaret Groninger, a retired public school music teacher who continued to sing with the Mendelssohn Choir and headed Longwood’s art committee.

• Jane Reimers, retired executive secretary at J L Steel.

• Muriel Weeks, retired executive director of the Westmoreland County Mental Health Association, Greensburg.

The mysterious plot

The Table Ladies have brought back their protagonists, also residents of an upscale retirement community, this one on the banks of the Chesapeake in Maryland, who again come upon a mystery.

It begins when one neighbor is robbed of her jewels and another, a former U.S. State Department official who is writing his memoir, discovers that his private files are missing.

Don’t worry, be happy

“So many books about growing older are grim and depressing. We want to show the other side of life for the elderly,” Ducanis says. “Our target audience is the general public and especially seniors.”

“We hope that readers come away from our books with the realization that retirement communities are not ‘old folks homes’ and that seniors can live active, productive lives,” she says.

Rex Rutkoski is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.