cover image File Under: Jeopardy

File Under: Jeopardy

Sarah Lacey. St. Martin's Press, $21.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-312-15127-0

A chance encounter with an old school friend plunges English tax inspector Leah Hunter (File Under: Arson) into a frightening world of abduction, stalkers and murder. Employed by Customs and Excise, Jeannie Johnson is arrested after an altercation in a parking lot, but she disappears before she lets on what she's up to. Her mother calls Leah for help, but before Mrs. Johnson is able to pass along the letter that Jeannie has written to Leah, the older woman is run down by a car and her purse stolen. In short order, the police conclude that Jeannie was taking payoffs. When Jeannie turns up, she's floating in a canal-unconscious, having been beaten and raped. Then Leah begins to receive threatening phone calls. Convinced that her friend was on the trail of a money-laundering scheme, Leah digs and discovers that Jeannie led a secret life. Leah comes to the obvious end of her investigations in a way that seems too easy-and too fast-so she sets out to do it again, this time focusing on the money-laundering scheme. Jeannie's co-workers are sullen and suspicious, and their boss even threatens to have Leah arrested for meddling. Leah's boyfriend, DI David Nicholls, tries to be supportive, but he always seems to be on the wrong side of the investigation. Determined and feisty, Leah redeems her friend's reputation in a story in which the body count is high, the villains shadowy and her strongest ally a surprise even to her. (Mar.)