THE MEN IN HER DEATH

Actress-sleuth Tessa Crichton's longtime friend Lorraine Thurioe comes to London to look for her very rich husband's very rich and foolish niece Sandy--who hasn't been seen or heard from in weeks. And soon after Lorraine's arrival, Sandy's mother back in America gets a ransom demand--soon followed by the discovery of the girl's murdered body in an abandoned quarry. So Tessa talks to everyone who knew Sandy in England: her live-in fiancÉ, her friends, her house-cleaner, etc. And then financÉ Jocelyn's near-fatal fall from a bus Oust when he seemed ready to Tell All to Tessa) complicates matters--which are already wildly cluttered. Remit: more theorizing and yet more talk, with under-motivated and unconvincing plottings all along the way. So, though there's a neat (if not strong) climax--and though Tessa is occasionally charming--this is among the weakest of Morice's mysteries, sluggishly paced and heavyhanded in its frothiness.