MURDERS ANONYMOUS

Lacking either the character piquancy or the taut twistiness of last season's Pretty Pink Shroud, Ferrars' latest is still sturdily crafted and smoothly told. London prof Matthew's moody, rich young wife Kate is strangled while Matthew is at lunch with brother-in-law Colin. Perfect alibi, but an anonymous phonecaller keeps tormenting innocent Matthew with the accusation that the alibi is phony, an annoyance that drives Matthew into taking up residence with sister Cornelia and Colin. There he encounters the prime suspect in Kate's murder, womanizing artist Grant Staveley, but when Staveley is pushed off the cliffs one night, Matthew becomes totally confused. And almost dead. Highly foreseeable denouement notwithstanding, a dependable package of plot, people, and atmosphere.