THE BECKONING DOOR

Another superior job of atmosphere, character and suspense -- this time for the story of Cathy, bound to Long Meadow by family debts, a crippled mother and her love for Russ, married to wealthy, possessive Ada. The murder of her cousin, Sylvia, the complications of an unfair family inheritance, the killing of a town character, and the net closes in around Cathy, even if another has been jailed for Sylvia's death. But Cathy braves it out, is confronted by the killer -- and saved by her mother's quick thinking. Definite town and human personalities here -- and intelligence.