Vital Signs

"Vital Signs" [is] a bittersweet story that reminds us that a crime's legacy does not necessarily end when the crime is solved," says Laura Lippman in her Foreword to CHESAPEAKE CRIMES I, the collection in which this story originally appeared. "I was inspired by a true story," Talley told a gathering of fans at a bookstore one evening. "There really was an "Aunt Lucy," although she wasn't a murder victim-at least not as far as I know!"