A DEADLY PLACE TO STAY

Arriving in london broke and helpless, petty-thief/runaway Lesley Rivers is enticed to a Moonie-type church called the Holy Group; only after a period in their Group House is she permitted to take a job--at Eddie Perkins' health-food store, where she comes to the attention of pleasant young Detective Sergeant George Cole. The police, you see, have a watch on ex-drug-dealer Perkins--but Cole and co-worker Amanda Drew become interested in tracing Lesley's background, eventually investigating the abuses at Group House. And when Perkins is found murdered, it's soon obvious that his drug connection has been active. . . and leads straight to the Ruler of the Group. Competent but uncompelling--with Lesley an off-putting central character and the fusty ambience un-aided by veteran Bell's conscientious sprinkling of four-letter words.