A Fine Italian Hand - Softcover

Wright, Eric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0770425690 ISBN 13: 9780770425692

Publisher: Seal Books, 1993

Synopsis

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Murder at the seedy Days 'R Done motel is no surprise. But the killing of actor Alec Hunter poses some questions for Toronto police Inspector Charlie Salter. Namely, what was a nice guy like Alec doing in a place like that?

His death appears to be the work of a fine Italian hand--a Mob-style hit--carried out to settle some gambling debts. Yet the Mob denies the charges. So who was the Italian-looking gentleman who registered for Alec's room at the Days 'R Done?

To complicate matters, Salter's wife, Annie, is away and a woman from his past is stirring up the present--as he unravels a web of blackmail and death surrounding the actor's final performance.

This is #9 in An Inspector Charlie Salter Mystery.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

The ninth outing for personable Charlie Salter (Final Cut, A Sensitive Case, etc.) of the Toronto police finds him coping with the stabbing/garrotting slaying of actor Alec Hunter in a lakeside motel. Although Hunter was rumored to be a heavy gambler, the feelers that Charlie sends out indicate that Hunter was not killed by the mob over IOUs. What then? Turns out, Hunter said he was going to the track to cover up his trysts at the motel. With whom? Cast members have no idea, but as Charlie checks out previous performances, he uncovers a suicide that occurred while Hunter was playing Brighton. Further investigation reveals that it may have been murder rather than suicide, and Charlie now has two cases on his hands. Moreover, while trying to discover who took the secobarb pills from the dead actress's room, Charlie locates another beauty in Hunter's past--a blackmailer who bled him dry--and a good deed that may have killed him. A bit more intricate a plot than usual, and a nifty one at that, enlivened by a bittersweet encounter with an old girlfriend while wife Annie is off on Prince Edward Island. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly

In his ninth appearance (the most recent was Final Cut ), Toronto police inspector Charlie Salter has a hard time focusing on the case of a murdered actor. Salter is suffering either from spring fever (he keeps smelling nonexistent lilacs) or a midlife crisis: his thoughts turn often to aging and death while his wife is away on Prince Edward Island tending her father, who has had a stroke. Actor Alec Hunter was stabbed and garroted in a sleazy lakefront hotel; evidence points to a mob-style rubout. Connie Spurling, who was the victim's possessive lover and agent, says she had given him $1000 to pay his gambling debts, a suspiciously small sum to lead to murder. Meanwhile, Salter must also deal with the bribery charge made against a new friend in the gambling squad, and with the dilemma of Sgt. Ranovic, whose pregnant girlfriend is resisting his suit of marriage in favor of remaining a single mother. The agreeable Charlie penetrates a web of deceit to link this case to the earlier death of an actress. But the contrived plot falters due to undeveloped characters and a notable lack of suspense.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Seal Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0770425690
• ISBN 13: 9780770425692
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 216