SHALLOW GRAVE

Seventh in the chronicle of Inspector Bill Slider’s triumphs and failures in London’s Shepherd’s Bush precinct (Killing Time, 1998, etc.). This time, the story takes us to the old Mimpress estate, where aged, ailing historian Cyril Dacre lives with his widowed daughter, Frances Hammond. It’s Frances who discovers, on their terrace, in a trench being dug by builder Eddie Andrews, the body of Eddie’s wife Jennifer. Slider and sidekick Detective Sergeant Atherton, quickly on the scene, are pretty sure Eddie is the killer, knowing Jennifer was a bold-mannered tease and Eddie often half-crazed with jealousy and drink. But matters turn more complex as the investigation proceeds and other motives surface. For one, there’s the ongoing affair Jennifer was having with her married boss, David Meacher, just as he was winding down a relationship with Liz Merryman, manager of his real estate office. There are also echoes here for Slider of his own loving affair with violinist Joanna while his wife Irene balks at divorce. Meantime, eyewitness reports have to be sifted through—until, finally, Slider zeroes in on an unexpected killer with a motive to match. Complex and sophisticated. Slider leaves no stone unturned’sometimes to a monotonous degree, and the same could be said of his and Atherton’s penchant for self-analysis. But the puzzle and the people are intriguing, and the denouement compelling, making another winner for this outstanding writer.