Elegy for a Thief: A Detective Sergeant Gabriel Dunn Mystery

The suicide of a young woman arouses the suspicions of police Sgt. Gabriel Dunn of Salem, Mass., in his second appearance, following Requiem for a Postman . Moira Doheny, suffering headaches after an automobile accident, ostensibly kills herself with a pistol, leaving a typewritten note saying she could no longer stand the pain. Dunn's partner, Jake Myles, and Moira's family accept the obvious; Dunn's doubts are fueled by the presence of two bullets. Although pressed to leave the apparently open-and-shut case to work on a series of shop burglaries, he delves into Moira's life and finds out that she had run with bad crowds, taking up with young men she felt she could reform. Her most recent lover, Chris Alexei, is a talented safecracker responsible for many of the burglaries Dunn is being urged to investigate, including the theft of a valuable collection of baseball cards. Further probing turns up other mysteries in Moira's life that may have led to her death. A powerful realism informs this solid, gritty procedural about a decent, compassionate, hard-working cop in a small working-class city. (June)