PEL AND THE PREDATORS

Another of the author's Burgundy-based police procedurals featuring a just promoted, slightly more cheerful Chief-Inspector Evariste Pel, soon to marry luscious widow Faiure-Perret and still working with his devoted team. Finding the murderer of smart, shiftless, pregnant Dominique Pigny, thrown from a car into the sea, is a challenge worthy of their various talents. Sister Sidonie, whose husband Dominique seduced, isn't grief-stricken. Neither are her numerous lovers, scattered for miles around. The search leads to the chateau of rich, aged, ailing Xavier Sirdey, cared for by Bernadine Guichet and brother who finally admit that Dominique used to help tend the old man. He still asks for her. An antique necklace and the discovery of a long-dead corpse in a neaby cove play an important part in the completion of this beautifully engineered puzzle. And through it all, Pel is threatened by old enemy Philippe Duche (Pel and the Staghound)--another headache for Nosjean, Darcy, etc. All in all, a host of lively minor characters help make this Hebden's best to date.