This short crime story begins with a well-heeled lady sighing her way to death from an overdose of anti-anxiety medication in the shoe department of a major New York store. Both a CEO and active in a Long Island heritage group, Vanessa Giddings leaves more questions than answers in her wake. COMPLIMENTS OF A FRIEND is narrated by Judith Singer, a widowed professor of history.

Vanessa was well liked and seemed to have it all. A year previously however her husband had dumped her for a younger model. Judith wonders if Vanessa had secretly been depressed. Her girl friend has all the gossip, both personal and financial, and Judith decides that something just doesn't seem right. Is there anything for her to learn by consulting records? When not much surfaces the curious Judith talks to people... the ex-husband has married an artist, the veggie burger firm Vanessa ran was doing badly. And her husband's first wife - who got dumped for Vanessa - still bears a grudge. Seems there's a lot more going on under the surface of Long Island society than can be seen at a glance.

This story is only about forty pages long, and there follows a note from the author Susan Isaacs who wrote a novel featuring this main character called 'Compromising Positions' some years ago; she has extended this short story into another novel, 'Long Time No See'. I found the tale interesting but the ending a little rushed, so it might work better in novel form, but COMPLIMENTS OF A FRIEND is a good introduction to the author.