PRIME SUSPECT

Lackey Ferguson, part-owner of F&F Construction, a small company that hires parolees as laborers, doesn't realize he's being set up as fall-guy when Percy Hardin, from the posh side of town, invites him over to discuss building a poolhouse for his wife, Marissa, then leaves Lackey alone with her. When Marissa is raped and murdered and Percy has an airtight alibi, Lackey becomes the prime suspect—even though forensics can't match his pubic hair and semen to that found at the scene (facts that the cops, eager for a ``quick solve,'' are willing to ignore). So Lackey begins his own investigation, which leads to the death of a parolee/employee and the abduction of his fiancÇe, Nancy. Meanwhile, the killer Percy hired has his own agenda—getting Percy to pay up, which he can't do until the insurance comes through. Several gruesome deaths later, the killer is cooing over Nancy in his hide-out; Percy and his sister-in-law are arguing in bed; and Lackey is on the run from the cops and in search of Nancy.... As Gray proved in Bino and Size, he can out-tough the best of them, even Elmore Leonard. This is less complex than its predecessors, but, still, sharp, taut, and mean.