THE BASKET CASE

Case #11, and a dreary one, for Father Dowling of St. Hilary's parish in Fox River, Illinois (Rest in Pieces, etc.). The Farleys of Fox River are upstanding, devout Catholics and rich. Daughter Connie has shed no-good Peter Rush in a messy divorce case--and now leaves her infant son in the church for Father Dowling to find, supposedly because of her ex-husband's threat to kidnap him. Confusion deepens as a little investigation, by police captain Phil Keegan, uncovers the truth about the death a year before of Harold Farley--model husband and father of Connie and sister Liz--who also left behind June Slate, his adoring, well-hidden mistress of ten years. She is now an office receptionist down the hall from the office of Peter Rush. When Rush is found murdered in that office, June becomes the prime suspect, but Father Dowling believes her innocent and eventually muddles his way to the real killer. By this time, however, the reader may not care, since dead Harold Farley is the only character with a shred of vitality in this clumsily contorted plot. Disappointing stuff. For better Mclnerny, try numbers one to ten.