Final Design

Police detective Kate MacLean has finally landed a homicide case all her own, one her boss calls a "nice, ladylike murder," with no blood, no violence - just a neat overdose of morphine slipped into a cup of tea. Found slumped over her desk, the dead woman is a Liz Taylor look-alike named Catherine Fletcher, one of four partners in a new and struggling Seattle graphic arts studio. With a hundred-thousand-dollar life insurance policy on the victim held by the business, Kate figures it's a lead pipe cinch that one of the other partners is guilty. No doubt the Captain will be proved right. This is a ladylike murder for a lady cop - one corpse, one killer, one quick arrest.
But that's before Kate and her partner, Sam Morrison, discover that nothing about the lovely Catherine Fletcher adds up - from her finances to her love life. Then another dead body is found at the office, and working nine-to-five in Seattle starts to look like a high risk profession. Before long her gut instinct tells her the pieces of this deadly puzzle are held together by hate and revenge, but what is the big picture? How many bodies will complete a killer's final design? And will a pretty policewoman's death be its final macabre touch?

Although Gilpatrick ( The Piano Man ) sacrifices a modicum of suspense by tiptoeing too noisily around her villain's identity, this intricate whodunit still provides steady excitement. When Catherine Fletcher, a partner in a four-woman advertising agency, dies of drinking morphine-laced tea, Seattle police detective Kate MacLean takes the case. Fletcher's death may have been suicide, but suspicion also falls on her co-workers, her smarmy ex-husband and her alleged fiance. Three morphine murders later, MacLean has become emotionally involved with two of the potential killers--one whom she instinctively believes to be innocent and the other whom she casually excuses for lack of evidence. As the list of suspects dwindles, it becomes abundantly clear that disappointment, heartbreak and mortal danger await Kate. Several of Gilpatrick's scenarios stretch credibility; for instance, many characters cooperate too easily with police, evincing neither curiosity nor mistrust when interrogated. Still, this mystery conveys both the tedium of procedural work and the satisfaction of obtaining results. In the end, as the guilty party and MacLean reach the requisite dramatic standoff, adrenaline kicks in and minor quibbles fade.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gilpatrick follows her chilling debut (The Piano Man, 1991) with a more conventional police tale featuring warmhearted Katie MacLean, of Seattle's neighboring Eastside Police Force (EPF), who has just been named D.I.C. (detective in charge) of a homicide investigation. Gorgeous Catherine Fletcher, one of four partners in a small graphics studio, succumbed to morphine-laced tea. In quick order, two more partners die, as does the husband of the remaining firm member, Phyllis Walsh, who's now charged with four counts of Murder One. But Katie's gut feeling tells her Phyllis is innocent, and--despite her cop partner Sam, her chief, and her sexist co- workers--she stays with the case. Under scrutiny, Catherine's life disintegrates into a passel of lies, scam jobs, and vendettas--then tissue analysis reveals a virulent cancer. Did Catherine choose suicide, while someone else killed the others? Following a romance with a former suspect in the case, Katie zeroes in on the real killer--but nearly dies of morphine-poisoning herself before the close. Each time the story threatens to peter out, Gilpatrick tosses in another twist, but the final one strains credulity. Still, Katie's a keeper, and the writing's fluid and easygoing. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Put in charge of her first murder case, Bellevue (Washington) detective Kate MacLean employs the detailed and thorough techniques associated with most police procedure. Soon after observing the beautiful but dead body of businesswoman Catherine Fletcher, Kate uncovers discrepancies that reveal the woman's duplicitous life. Burrowing through layers of sham, Kate must find the family member or business partner who would gain most from the woman's death. Solid follow-through from the 1990 "Malice Domestic" contest winner ( The Piano Man ).
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Attractive businesswoman Catherine Fletcher is found dead in her design studio. The modus operandi? A lethal dose of morphine in Catherine's tea. Seattle police detective Katie MacLean figures one of Catherine's business partners had the most to gain from Catherine's death, but once the feisty detective begins her investigation, she keeps turning up new and surprising pieces of the puzzle. It's one wild-goose chase after another for Katie and partner Sam Morrison until finally, after encountering a series of frustrating, frazzling dead ends that lead to the wrong (albeit the logical) scapegoat, Katie's dogged persistence pays off, and she unearths the killer. This well-written, cleverly plotted police procedural combines plenty of surprises, the odd bit of humor, and a little romance for a pleasantly engaging read. Emily Melton