Sympathetic and convincing characters are stronger than the puzzle in this third mystery in the Cat Austen series (after Fruitcake, 1997). Cat, a freelance writer and young widowed mother from a large Italian family in southern New Jersey, is dreading a vacation she has agreed to take with her Shakespeare-quoting suitor, Police Lt. Victor Cardenas, when a murder materializes to prevent it. It is the fourth in a series of murders in which the victims?all women?share a link to St. Agnes Church, where Cat's brother Dom is a priest. A subplot involves a television program called CopWatch, which is in town to film a re-creation of one of Cat's earlier stories. The academic adviser is Ted Cusack, who had tried to rape Cat when she was in college and, without recognizing her, puts the make on her again. Cat's ambivalence toward Victor is further complicated when he decides that Father Dom is the killer. Three more deaths occur before Cat and the police, five of whom are also her brothers, identify who murdered whom. While the close small-town and family relationships are a challenge to keep straight, Rubino's vigorous prose and engaging cast offer ample rewards to persistent readers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Freelance writer Cat Austen lives in a climate conducive to investigation: her lover, Victor, and five of her brothers are cops. She and Victor work separately on a recent case of murder in Atlantic City that apparently ties in with three earlier killings. The first clue leads directly to the neighborhood church where Cat's sixth brother is a priest. Thick with procedure, family interconnections, possible prostitution overtones, and observations on the changing cityscape, this mystery by the author of Fruitcake (Write Way, 1997) is strongly recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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