C. B. GREENFIELD: THE TANGLEWOOD MURDER

Second case for the whimsical detective-team of C. B. Greenfield--publisher of the Sloan's Ford Reporter--and his right-hand woman Maggie Rome, who has an improbably undemanding husband (and sons) and who plays Archie Goodwin to Greenfield's very pale Nero Wolfe imitation. Greenfield and Maggie are at Tanglewood, attending a Boston Symphony rehearsal, when violinist Noel Damaskin collapses and dies onstage. It's murder, and lots of suspects are around: a wronged wife, an even more wronged mistress, an illegitimate daughter, an irate neighbor, and a bitter fellow violinist. So self-appointed investigators Greenfield and Maggie must resort to extensive interviewing--and incredible chutzpah--to track down the killer. . . who, it appears, was planning to confess anyway. The heavily convoluted plot is at odds with Maggie's light and breezy narration; and Greenfield, though given a heap of minor eccentricities, never comes to life as a super-sleuth. Still--mildly diverting, with a lively supporting cast and extra appeal for classical-music lovers in the briskly evoked Tanglewood atmosphere.