Look Back on Murder

An English country house which was the scene of a murder 30 years earlier becomes the setting for still more murders in this smoothly plotted mystery. Private investigator Alan Craig is invited by an old school chum, TV journalist Miles Jordan, to spend a weekend at his country estate, The White House. Soon Craig learns that Miles is about to uncover new evidence in the death of the estate's former owner, playboy financier Nigel Randall, during a nationally broadcast show. Though Randall's wife was convicted of the crime, Miles is convinced that she was innocent and has assembled almost all the witnesses from that fatal weekend years ago to hear his accusations. Unfortunately, Miles is shot before he can reveal the real killer, and it is up to Craig to solve the riddle of the old murder before he can discover who is responsible for Miles's death. Good craftsmanship and even pacing make this book a nicely diverting puzzle. (June 6)