As the wife of a Mormon bishop and a devout Mormon herself, Linda Wallheim knows what duty and obligation mean. While her husband, Kurt, tends to the spiritual and practical needs of the flock, Linda often finds herself called into service as well. Although her efforts often focus on the women and children of the congregation, she makes herself available to all and sundry to keep things running smoothly in the ward.

When Linda notices considerable tension between a fellow Mormon couple, Carl and Emma Ashby, she wonders whether or not the often-inflexible Carl is abusive to Emma and their teenage children, Alice and William. Although Carl is her husband's right-hand man, she realizes that even those in authority sometimes have significant flaws.

"HIS RIGHT HAND is a fascinating novel that explores the LDS world and how it reacts when a treasured member of the church is not what he appears to be."

Before Linda can further investigate the relationship between Carl and Emma, Emma calls the couple late one night, frantic because Carl has never returned from a meeting at the church, a meeting that Kurt knows nothing about. When Kurt and Linda pop into the church to check on the missing parishioner, they find him dead, the victim of an apparent murder.

As the police investigation proceeds, everyone is shocked to find out that Carl Ashby, formerly Carla Thompson, is really a woman who's been living her life as a man for the past 20 years. What isn't immediately apparent is whether or not Emma knew the truth about her husband's gender.

While Carl's sex change may be accepted in other circles, it has serious consequences in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the LDS world, Carl and Emma's marriage is no longer valid, and the family of four is no longer sealed together in a way that will allow them to spend eternity together. It also means that any of the church ordinances performed by Carl may need to be redone as his sex made it impossible for him to be a true priesthood holder.

Eager to keep the matter as quiet as possible and avoid undue negative publicity for the church, Linda begins investigating the murder herself against mandates from her husband and the police not to do so. After all, she has plenty of time on her hands now that all five of her grown sons have left home. As she investigates, the list of suspects grows to include Carl's adopted son, a lover from Carl's past, a woman in the church to whom Carl was inappropriately close, and a child to whom he'd given birth and placed for adoption while still living as a woman. Even Emma may have had reason to want her husband dead.

As Linda concerns herself with solving the mystery of Carl's murder, she also deals with her own struggles that involve a startling admission from her youngest son and her own doubts about certain dictates of the LDS church.

HIS RIGHT HAND is a fascinating novel that explores the LDS world and how it reacts when a treasured member of the church is not what he appears to be. Watching Linda juggle her duties as a bishop's wife, adjust to life as an empty-nester and solve a murder keeps readers turning the pages of this riveting mystery penned by a member of the LDS church.