cover image Answer Came There None

Answer Came There None

E. X. Ferrars. Doubleday Books, $17 (188pp) ISBN 978-0-385-46856-5

The prolific British author of Beware of the Dog , Trial by Fury et al. introduces a sympathetic heroine in her latest cozy thriller. Sara Marriott, a recently divorced young freelance writer, agrees to ghostwrite the autobiography of elderly Gen. Schofield. Moving to the small town of Edgewater, she rents a flat from the General's friend, the widowed Mrs. Cannon, and is immediately drawn into her landlady's quarrel with her middle-aged son who plans to marry and move to Canada. On her birthday Mrs. Cannon confides to Sara that she's about to change her will and leave her money to a niece, but while guests assemble for her party downstairs, she dies of poisoning in her bedroom. The police say the widow committed suicide, but the General disagrees. When he is killed next, Sara recalls an odd message found on her answering machine the day Mrs. Cannon died. Ferrars crafts the story well; her bringing a biology professor to Sara's aid makes for some tingling and informative sleuthing. (Apr.)