CHANCE TO KILL
By
I.D. #13 in the series featuring Lt. Mendoza of the L.A. police force and a heat wave brings out au ever higher incidence of ordinary crimes. It is primarily the murder of a young Negro woman who turns out to have been on the force, the disappearance of her engagement ring and her handbag, which occasions a lot of legwork for the methodical Mendoza. ""The routine. It does usually pay off in the end."" which seems to be the answer to this series' success. However, this is not its liveliest installment.