Kirkus Reviews QR Code
IF I DON'T TELL by Donald Olson

IF I DON'T TELL

By

Pub Date: June 14th, 1976
Publisher: Putnam

This is one of those stories of victimization--that of a middle-aged woman or any reader--managed with grubby aplomb. Margery Hazell, 48, has been alone for 22 years since her husband's death except for the attentions of his oldest friend who calls her a ""rare flower."" Now a young man with her husband's ID, the survivor of a plane crash, moves in on her in every way and she enjoys it--shamelessly. But she's queasier about the phone calls from someone called Pagolis, seemingly a reporter or an investigator, and while her lover boy proceeds from mugging to theft to murder, she doesn't know quite what to do, because. The because is the real jolt (Olson's a prodigal plotter) but you'll probably still be sitting in your chair even if you know you should get up and wash your hands of the whole dirty business.