FRIGOR MORTIS

by Ralph MeInerny ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1989

The author of the Father Dowling series (The Grass Widow, etc.) is often livelier outside those stories--as in this tale of adultery, greed, and murder in the town of Fairland, near Minneapolis. Here, the late Harold Larson's daughter Stella had, years before, married George Arthur, who saved her father's empire from debt and dissolution after his death. Stella's true love, however, was banker Roy Hunt, who never married. Their trysts continued until the day they murdered George, and beyond--but with diminished fervor. Money was the catalyst for the killing--a million in cash they'd persuaded George to keep in an unregistered safe deposit box in Hunt's bank. Its disappearance now is a trust-destroying enigma. In any event, the affair wasn't as secret as Roy and Stella thought. Dr. Louis Poeglin and thrill-hungry wife Babs knew. So did George's mistress and right-hand administrative assistant Beatrice Dean. Even awkward, obese Sheriff Oscar Ewbank was aware of the relationship--and uses the knowledge to break his chief suspect when Stella's body is found strangled. Clean, crisp writing, swift pacing, sharp psychological insights, and a cast of offbeat, fully realized characters make this one complex and compelling--McInerny at his best.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1989

Categories: FICTION