SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

The best Linington case-book in quite some time for Ivor and Sue Maddox (& Co.) of the L.A.P.D.: the usual big-city mayhem, often delivered by dull rote in recent years, is crisp and vivid here. Among the less run-of-the-mill reports: the discovery of longdead corpses under a demolished house--which leads to the tracking down of a quiet, middle-aged Bluebeard; the murder of a rich, aloof businessman who's obsessed with bloodlines (a case solved by pregnant Sue's intuition); plus the matter of a particularly vicious rapist. . . and the victim who (with full reader sympathy) closes the file on him. True, the more mundane slew of robbers, muggers, and hit-and-run drivers is here too--but each assignment is sharply delineated, the pace is fast, and Linington (a.k.a. Shannon/Egan) in top form leaves no doubts as to why she's the doyenne of police procedurals.