TESTIMONY

Even after Terry Davis was thrown off the Leicester police force, his downward spiral continued through his smarmy private- investigations firm—until he was found bleeding to death outside his favorite pub. Was he killed by Golden Jim Goulden, the gambler he'd been blackmailing; Gerry Murray, the dog-fancier who had threatened him over the dognapping he was investigating for the Animal Alliance; or Inspector Mike Fixter when Fixter found out that his wife was sleeping with Davis? Detective Jacko Jackson, with the help of lesbian Sergeant Caroline Parker and blind, sharp-witted witness George Marshall, soon decides to focus on the drowning of a schoolgirl Davis had known too much about—a drowning young Lance Frost had first confessed to, then fingered his amazed stepfather for. A first novel with maybe too many subplots for comfort or belief, but a finale worthy of Ruth Rendell.