BISHOP'S REVENGE

Bishop Francis X. Regan and legman Davey Goldman go to bat for Eddie Goode, the man who brought them together eight years back by shooting Regan and consigning him to a wheelchair. Eddie's accused of killing carwash heir Laddie Compton, whom he insists had inveigled him into a wild scheme to steal the family jewels. A second homicide—the victim a longtime Compton friend with sadly irrelevant mob connections—focuses attention on the real suspects: family members who have strong opinions about the breakneck expansion of the upscale Midas Touch Autocare chain—and Davey gets to question them all, disguising himself as a cop, an insurance investigator, a bank loan officer, and an official of the Knights of St. Titus, as the occasion demands. A nicely hidden motive for an obvious culprit; and Davey's endless masquerades seem a little forced this time. Not up to The Fundamentals of Murder or (especially) Bloody Ten.