Jo Dereske — Short Cut (Ruby Crane Mystery)

Dell 1998 Paperback, 336pp. They were sisters separated by distance, hurt and secrets.  Now murder is bringing them together. It was a long way from northern Michigan to the mountains above Albuquerque.  But the distance between Ruby Crane and her glamorous, successful sister, Phyllis, was even greater.  Until Phyllis trekked through the Michigan snow in her designer boots to beg Ruby for help.  And while Ruby knew there were some things she couldn't help her sister with--like her drinking--she couldn't say no to a matter of life and death. A boy had died on a construction site, and Phyllis, the engineer on the project, was being blamed--for a design she claimed someone had altered.  While Ruby, an expert in handwriting analysis, tries to find out if the designs are forgeries, a sudden, vicious murder changes everything.  Now a stalker is lurking around Phyllis's once-elegant life.  And for the two sisters, the time has come for unspoken words--and a fight for both of their lives. (ISBN: 9780440222231). Good.