OFF WITH THE OLD

In the Hudson Valley town of Adams Corner some longtime residents are being decimated by what might or might not be murder. First to go is Mary Wilson, whose high-school teacher/husband Alex is suspected of having designs on newly widowed Sally Benz. Mary died of eating poisonous mushrooms, and Alex is soon arrested by lazy, not-too-bright Senior Investigator Engel, then later released for lack of evidence. The next fatality is Myra Coleman, killed in a hit-and-run that also injured Adele Watson, who later died in the hospital—not of natural causes. Through all this, Susan Bloch, with some help from pal Henry Wall, both of them friends of the victims, plays detective—much to Engel's exasperation. Susan eventually figures it all out and sets a trap for the killer. The solution, however, is as contrived as the rest of this tedious exercise—which makes much of the problems of aging while treating its elderly characters with arch condescension. Disappointing follow-up to the author's lively A Killing in Real Estate (1988).