In A Foolish Plucking, Gary openly fights with his wife, Alice, just before the two leave their country club. Both have had far too much to drink. Gary 's wife leaves first. A while later, pissed off Gary arrives home but all the doors are locked. He cannot get inside. In his stupor, he falls asleep on the front porch swing.

The following day when Gary finally enters his house, Alice is not home. He wanders from room to room calling her name. Not really upset over her absence, he eats and prepares for a normal day. In the afternoon, one of his wife's friends arrives to find out why Alice did not show for a pre-planned tennis match.

When Alice shows up nowhere, police get involved. They arrive at Gary 's home for questioning. The man can only be honest—he knows nothing about Alice 's whereabouts.

However, police find blood around the shower drain in the master bedroom. On the wall near the bed, there appears to be drops of blood which spattered there and began to run down the wall before completely clotting.

Even more incriminating is the blood inside the rear of Gary 's SUV. Police have found the huge Escalade in a field off River Edge Drive. They also find a bicycle with vines caught in its gear changing mechanism in Gary 's garage. The exact same vines grow near the river. A case of murder seems so cut and dry that authorities arrest Gary and set a trial date.

All of the evidence fits neatly together except for the fact that Alice's corpse is missing. Yes, many witnesses saw Gary fight with her at the country club; and yes, her blood was in the shower stall, and on the wall, and in the Escalade. But from the very beginning of this bizarre episode, Gary insists he is innocent. At trial with little deliberation, a jury finds him guilty and Gary begins his prison life-sentence.

Was he wrongly convicted, or is he guilty as charged? What will happen to this man now that he is behind bars? Will he eventually confess or will he continue to insist that he knows nothing of Alice 's disappearance. Could he have committed murder in his drunken stupor and somehow forgotten his horrible act?

Here, I will leave the reader to get a copy of Dee Wilbur's exciting book A Foolish Plucking. The story will leave you unnerved until the very end. It is well written with very believable characters. Although relatively short, the tale is just long enough to pull you into its web of murderous behavior and genuine deceit.

I would recommend this story to all readers who like suspense and mystery stories. It would make a great tale for high school students to read and then discuss. The ending is so shocking it will leave you wondering about the reality of true justice.