MASTERPIECE OF MURDER
by Mary Kruger
Matt Devlin, handpicked detective for Teddy Roosevelt's NYPD, and his socialite bride Brooke settle in to housekeeping at the Dakota two months after Joseph Warren, curator of paintings at the Manhattan Museum of Art, is killed in an apparent robbery attempt. Warren's daughter Linda naturally wants experienced Brooke (No Honeymoon for Death, 1995, etc.) to have the case reopened, officially or unofficially, and, after token resistance, Matt complies. The unsolved murder isn't even the latest in a series of outrages swirling around the museum: There's a series of thefts, revelations of forgery, and the killing of Warren's unsavory mistress. Brooke and Matt are the recipients of a tidy series of confessions to the lesser felonies, but which of the demure felons capped his criminal career by killing Joseph too? The answer arrives on the wings of still another unsolicited confession, making you wonder if Brooke and Matt aren't the luckiest pair of detectives in the business.