BETRAYED BY DEATH

Detective Inspector Fusil (Murder Is Suspected, etc.) has a more violent case than usual: the disappearance of nine pre-teen boys over two years--presumably the work of a homicidal pervert. And the case seems virtually insoluble till Fusil realizes that the night of each disappearance was also the night of a robbery of antique-silver from a country house. So, following this hunch despite sneers from higher-ups and others, Fusil tries to get a line on the antique-silver theft/fence connection--and he even resorts to using a criminal type to help him get information from a fence. The sleuthing pays off, however: the killer (whom we've seen in glimpses throughout) is fingered. But Fusil can't prove his case; and the old means-and-ends issues crop up, especially when someone takes the law into his own hands. No mystery here, with a slow-ish pace and a few preachy asides--but more substantial fare than previous Aldings, with a slightly surprising windup.