From Publishers Weekly
Charmianspok Daniels, Chief Superintendent in the London Police who was last seen in Dead Set , returns in a suspenseful case that involves her goddaughter, Kate Cooper, and her friend, Sergeant Dolly Barstow of the Merrywick CID, in murder. Dead is Nella Fisher, a barmaid who had repeatedly warned Kate and Dolly that a man was planning to attack them. Told to go take her information to the police, Nella had laughed derisively. The warnings, accompanied by requests for money, escalated and Kate had been heard shouting that she would kill Nella if she came back again. After Nella's body is found in front of the townhouse where Kate and Dolly both live, Kate is arrested. As the police work on building their case, Charmian attempts to determine the meaning of the barmaid's warning and the reason why she distrusted the police. Gradually the Chief Superintendent realizes that she is the real target of the mysterious man whom Nella had overheard. Deftly unraveling the convoluted plot, Melville delivers a zinger of a story. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The latest in the Charmian Daniels series illustrates perfectly the way British police procedurals often combine a sense of refinement and restraint with the goriest of crimes. Here the body of a young female drifter, Nella Fisher, is found in front of the apartment building where Charmian's goddaughter, Kate, and a police colleague, Dolly Barstow, live. The woman had appeared a few weeks before, attempting to extort money for information on a man she claimed was out to get them. Charmian suspects there is more to the story, and, of course, there is. Forced to use her senior position and influence in the police department to clear her friends from suspicion, Charmian treads softly--though not softly enough to avoid keeping out of the line of fire herself. All in all, a very good read and no disappointment for Charmian's fans. Stuart Miller

From Kirkus Reviews
Chief Superintendent Charmian Daniels--settled in her cozy Windsor house (Dead Set, etc.) and about to climb yet another rung of the police corporate ladder--has made enemies along the way. One of them is out to get her, on the cryptic word of sad young Nedda Fisher, who wants money from Charmian's goddaughter Kate to name names. Nedda comes from the benighted Cheasey district, home to a heavy criminal element and hangout of vicious, slippery Jake Henley, king of several rackets, pornography among them. Nedda is shot to death soon after her approach to Kate and Sergeant Dolly Barstow. There are rumors of police corruption; some very personal problems for Charmian to deal with; incidents directed at her that escalate from anonymous phone calls to arson; plus a new murder and an old one uncovered before Charmian, acting on instinct, confronts her enemy. Red herrings abound, and Melville's style is more than a bit precious--but enough tension is generated to hold you to the finish of this woman-focused police procedural. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.