TRUE OR FALSE?

Like Borgenicht's last offbeat little outing, No Bail for Dalton (1974), this is a slight, sweet, but mildly engaging suspense tale--featuring mixed-up Ada Weller, a pretty, 40-ish, very wealthy widow who becomes a rather half-hearted part-time sleuth. Ada's case? Well, her daughter Laurie has become entangled (for the noblest of reasons) with a fellow named Carl--a cool cipher with an inauspicious past. And Ada's suspicions about her incipient son-in-law are soon compounded by a series of anonymous, malicious letters . . . plus a strange progression of sick animals cluttering up the Weller property. So Ada, who herself is foolishly fond of youngish, amiable, not-too-competent architect Wally (she has grandiose ideas about Wally designing an animal hospital), decides to uncover the truth about Carl--via a plan that could charitably be described as bizarre. Largely told through Ada's thoughts and imaginary conversations: a lightweight diversion--with a nicely evoked air of foreboding and a bittersweet ending for both mother and daughter.