From Publishers Weekly
Elderly Gwen Robson is found murdered in a shopping-mall garage and Inspector Wexford and partner Mike Burden investigate. "Rendell's reputation for literary grace, ingenious plots and arresting characters is borne out again in her latest stunning mystery," enthused PW . "It's a spellbinder." Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Who would garrote a middle-aged housewife and leave her body in the parking garage of a suburban shopping mall? Chief Inspector Wexford is no sooner on the case than a car bomb's explosion lands him in the hospital. It's now up to Mike Burden to step in and solve the case. He's got a suspect . . . but will he be able to make him talk?
From the Inside Flap
Who would garrote a middle-aged housewife and leave her body in the parking garage of a suburban shopping mall? Chief Inspector Wexford is no sooner on the case than a car bomb's explosion lands him in the hospital. It's now up to Mike Burden to step in and solve the case. He's got a suspect . . . but will he be able to make him talk?
Veiled One ANNOTATION
Who would strangle an innocent housewife and leave her body in a shopping mall parking garage? The bizarre nature of the murder demands more than a routine investigation, and Mike Burden--pinch-hitting for the injured Inspector Wexford--must penetrate the prime suspect's twisted mind. But how far will Burden go?
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Who would garrote a middle-aged housewife and leave her body in the parking garage of a suburban shopping mall? Chief Inspector Wexford is no sooner on the case than a car bomb's explosion lands him in the hospital. It's now up to Mike Burden to step in and solve the case. He's got a suspect . . . but will he be able to make him talk?
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Rendell's reputation for literary grace, ingenious plots and arresting characters is borne out again in her latest stunning mystery. Surprises abound in the case that bedevils Inspector Wexford and his partner, Mike Burden. When elderly Gwen Robson is found murdered in a shopping-mall garage, suspicion falls on Clifford, the neurotic son of widowed Dorothy Sanders, who reports the crime. At the same time, a bomb destroys Wexford's house and wounds him, leaving Burden temporarily in charge of the investigation. Later, the two detectives join forces again, but Wexford is partly distracted by worries about his actress daughter Sheila, threatened because he has protested publicly against nuclear arms. The chief inspector's psychological insights make him doubt Burden's conviction of Clifford's guilt. Wexford's questioning of the victim's family and the suspect's neighbor, along with some careful study of the agony column in a magazineamong other peculiar sourcesleads him to the truth. It's a spellbinder. (September)