PRACTICE TO DECEIVE

Lawyer Annie McPherson (Sea of Troubles, 1990—not reviewed), in her second appearance around and about scenic Seattle, enters the plush corridors of a mega-law firm that had (flatteringly but for still puzzling reasons) wooed the humble law partnership of McPherson and Feinstein into joining them. Kingpin of the firm is glitter lawyer and partner Gordon Barclay, handsome, accomplished, and irresistible to women, like little secretary Nancy—killed as she slumbered at home by a carefully placed exhaust hose. Other rubouts will surface—one far in the past and very close to Annie. There'll also be some disciplined snooping, and Annie will be winged by a bullet before the final chase and showdown on the slope of Mount Rainier. Among the innocents and artful dodgers slithering through the red herring: a pleasant young drunk, a bitter side to Barclay, a scatty wife, a company witch, etc. Annie's an efficient, agreeable, no-nonsense sort—and so is this mystery.