DYING FALL

An anonymous phone tip sends DCI Bill Slider to a well-hidden house in Shepherd’s Bush harboring a host of even better-hidden secrets.

A woman eventually identified as Prudence Chadacre, nee Kate Armstrong, a secretary at the Historic Buildings National Drawings Archive, has taken a fatal tumble down the stairs inside Dunkirk House—except that she hasn’t; there are clear signs that she was beaten to death and her fall never happened. The victim was so quiet, solitary, and withdrawn from the world that it’s no easy matter to generate a list of suspects, let alone figure out which of them might have had a motive for killing her. From almost the beginning of Slider’s inquiries, the most promising lead seems to be the death of Prue’s mother, Sandra May Chadacre, who drowned in her bath in the same house 20 years ago. The earlier death was discovered by Sandra’s son, Philip Armstrong, who’s clearly a person of interest now that his sister has died as well. And when at last Philip turns up, his artless confession—“I killed my sister, and it makes you tired, killing people”—bids fair to close the case. But Slider and his team aren’t ready to stop considering Magnus Armstrong, Sandra’s ex-husband, now a wealthy, powerful developer planning a run for Parliament, or Tony Scrimgeour, the handsome young man who managed the rare feat of insinuating himself into Prue’s good graces before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Steady, unspectacular, expertly paced work from all hands, with a particularly satisfying payoff.