Murder Crossed Her Mind

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The fourth in the "Pentecost/Parker Mystery" series. I recommend you read the previous books in the series before you tackle this one; there are some continuing characters and plot threads.

My previous reports on the series: here, here, and here. I guess I'm hooked.

Backstory, if you need it: set in post-WWII New York City, Ms. Lillian Pentecost runs a well-known detective agency. Her assistant, and the books' narrator, is Willowjean Parker, a streetwise, cynical lesbian, handy with a gun, knife, and blackjack. Not all at the same time.

Here, Ms. Pentecost is hired by a lawyer to try to find his firm's ex-secretary, Perseverance Bodine. After Perseverance retired, she became sort of reclusive, sticking to her apartment. And, oh yeah, she has an eidetic memory. And (also) she's become a hoarder, accumulating piles of newspapers and other detritus. And now, for some reason, she's gone missing.

Well, not for long. But that only causes more complications for the detectives.

And, as a side plot, Parker gets hoodwinked out on Coney Island, conked on the head, and robbed of her gun, keys, and wallet. She's too embarrassed to confess this to her Ms. Pentecost, so must find her assailants without assistance.

My usual gripe: Ms. Pentecost figures out, at least partially, whodunit, well before the end of the book. But we readers aren't told!

And, oh yeah: this book ends on a cliffhanger. Which I assume will be continued in book number five, coming out in a few months. As said above, I'm hooked.