A NICE LITTLE BUSINESS
By
The author's sleuth, Inspector Detective Neil Carter, now married to pregnant teacher Cathy (Trio in Three Acts), is much concerned when Cathy finds her nice, motherly dressmaker Mrs. Willoughby stabbed to death. The snide remark of a fellow officer gets a violent response from Neil, who's promptly put on suspension, allowing him to explore, in drag, Mrs. Willoughby's other clients and the other tenants in her shabby building. Discovering Willoughby's obvious blackmailing business, however, takes umpteen tedious pages. Nevertheless, by interviewing an assortment of dull suspects and climbing in and out of his wife's clothing, Neil finally solves the murder, and a second one, all by himself, anonymously leading his fellow officers to the culprit. Now that Neil is back on the force, the reader can only hope that his next case will not be as contrived, talky, unbelievable, and dull as this one.