Dr. John Taylor, a respected physician,
who specializes in facial reconstruction for children, is found dead
in his hotel room. At first it looks like a simple heart attack, but
when the police find two puncture holes in his shoulder, the verdict
is wrongful death. When it turns out that he had three wives, and the
first wife was orchestrating the menage-a-quatre, murder is likely.
Samantha Adams, a new detective, is
assigned to the case. The case consumes her leaving little tume for
her live-in boyfriend. He's trying to complete his doctoral
dissertation, although not very diligently, and resents Samantha's
total involvent in her job.
The plot carries this book. It's hard
to imagine how an aging doctor with a busy practice had time to have
three wives. It keeps you reading just to understand how he did it.
The author presents the point of view of each wife in different
chapters. This has the virtue of getting to know their thoughts about
their life and their husband, but they do sound alike in many
chapters. I realize it's not easy to differentiate the wives when
we're in their heads, but it becomes more disconcerting as the book
wears on to have them sound so similar.
If you're a murder mystery fan, the
identity of the murderer is easy to guess. The author tries to insert
red herrings, but in order to be true to the psychology of the wives,
she has to drop a lot of hints. I was disappointed in the ending. I
felt the author could have done a more creative job of figuring out
how it was possible for the murderer to kill the man. It seemed very
unlikely that it could have been accomplished the way it was
described.
This in an enjoyable book if you
concentrate on the unusual character of people who could willingly
become involved in a situation like this. I can't recommend it as a
mystery.
I reviewed this book for the Amazon
Vine Program.
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