THE THANKSGIVING DAY MURDER

Usually what disappears on Thanksgiving Day is the turkey, but in this well-crafted novel of detection, it is the beautiful, young wife of a wealthy man. Susan O'Malley narrates this puzzling mystery in a straightforward, no-frills style. She barely differentiates characters and doesn't bother with accents. Her spare style matches the characteristics of her detective, Chris Bennet Brooks, who is a policeman's wife and former nun. Brooks approaches the task of finding out what happened in a painstaking, no-nonsense manner, which is interesting but not melodramatic. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]