DEAD MEN DON'T MARRY

by Dorothy Sucher ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 1989

Private investigator Victor Newman returns to his Washington, D.C., home after a six-week absence to find that his motherly neighbor Fran O'Donnell has been killed by a train at a railway crossing. She'd been married only a few weeks to handsome, dashing Keith Browdy, who's still living in her house. Mulling over accounts of Fran's death, Vic finds plenty to make him uneasy, His suspicions are confirmed when Browdy sneakily decamps, leaving no trace. Three months later Vic's employer, Sabina Swift, is hired by rich artist Donna McNiece, whose sister Ruthann was killed in a similar railroad accident, also in the wake of a recent marriage. Donna had read the newspaper story of Fran's death and been struck by the parallel to her sister's. Ruthann's husband has also disappeared, and Donna wants him found. A few tenuous clues--along with a tedious series of interviews--convince Vic and Sabina that they're on the trail of a serial killer. They devise a risky scheme to bring him out of the woodwork, resulting in an overextended battle of wits and stamina with a foregone conclusion. Everything is overlong in this ponderous sequel to the author's livelier first novel (Dead Men Don't Hold Seminars). A petulant Sabina, an earnest but ineffectual Vic, and pages of psychobabble don't help. A lighter touch and some heavy editing are prescribed for the next outing.

Pub Date: July 7, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1989

Categories: FICTION