SCAVENGERS

by Yvonne Montgomery ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 22, 1987

Denver stockbroker Elliot Fulton is shot to death in the study of his handsome home. And among the suspects is 35-ish Finny Aletter, the heroine-sleuth of this middling mystery debut: she's smart, beautiful, successful, ironic, dissatisfied with the brokerage life--and (as everyone soon knows) she had a brief affair with married boss Elliot a few years back. Eager to clear her own name and protective of Elliot's family, Finny does some amateur investigating--to the chagrin of cop Chris Barelli. (Their love/hate relationship, which becomes a full-scale affair, is the most hackneyed element here--reminiscent of Compromising Positions and a dozen others.) There are motives at the office, where Elliot had a nasty partner and a pregnant mistress. At home there's a betrayed wife, a sullen son, and a troubled daughter. Plus: did someone kill book-collector Elliot while stealing a precious manuscript (a lost Mark Twain novel) from him? Derivative gimmicks, humdrum plotting--but Montgomery shows enough lean stylishness and humorous character-sketching (the gossipy office milieu is zestily done) to make this fairly palatable and mildly promising.

Pub Date: May 22, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Arbor House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION