Running for Shelter: A Laura Principal Mystery

Trendy, saxophone-playing PI Laura Principal, introduced in Every Breath You Take, finds herself caught up in one of London's seamier subcultures in a fast-paced adventure that stumbles on elements of motivation. Thomas Butler is a roly-poly West End producer who manages to stage plays that offer biting social commentary while making a pile of money. Because someone has been stealing from the cast and crew backstage during rehearsals of his current production, he calls Principal. On a routine follow-up visit to his posh London townhouse, Principal encounters a young Filipina domestic, Maria Flores, who pleads for her help in collecting wages from a former employer. But when Principal returns several days later, the girl is gone. More unsettling still, Butler--shedding his charming manner--claims he doesn't know whom Principal is talking about. As she hunts for Maria Flores, the PI is drawn into the anguished lives of undocumented workers living as virtual slaves in the homes of London's rich and venal. None of which seems to provide her with some much-needed perspective as she agonizes over how much of her soul she stands to lose should she vacation in Provence with her business partner and love interest, Sonny Mendlowitz, and his children. Spring's offering is carefully plotted, but Principal's meditations on friendship and on the gap between rich and poor are way too easy. (Aug.)