"The Plow Guy," by Brendan DuBois, in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, July/August 2014.
Henry Conway has a somewhat eccentric plan for his retirement. He wants to move to a small town in New Hampshire, buy a dog for company, and plow people's driveways. Seems easy enough, but he runs into a couple of problems, especially a man who beats his wife, a problem Henry isn't willing to ignore.
But Henry has an interesting skill set. Did I mention what work he retired from? Neither does he, exactly.
I chose my retirement home like I was planning for an overseas op. Oops, I meant to say, setting up a budget spreadsheet. Or a request for proposals. Or something innocent like that.
Oddly enough, I enjoyed the story more before the inevitable conflict came along. Henry is an interesting fellow and, honestly, the bad guy just wasn't enough of a challenge for him. But the writing is lovely.
I agree--beautifully done.
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