Insurance adjusters meet clients on the worst days of their lives, and they must be diplomatic, tactful, and ethical. The job is not only about returning phone calls and doing paperwork. Whether the case involves cargo damage, residential and business property damage, fire, fraud, burglary, or arson, it's the job of the adjuster to get to the bottom of things.

Author Jonathan L. Scott has spent more than thirty years as an adjuster. In a series of short stories, loosely based on actual insurance claims, he recalls navigating the human dimension of balancing a client's circumstances with...