A Touch of Panic

Ruthless businessman--and killer--Gordon Murphy has finally found for himself the perfect woman, Cassandra Mitchell, and sets out to pursue and win his prey, despite the fact she is living happily with Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Odd narrative angles, several cute coincidences and some tangled police work comprise this latest mystery from the acclaimed Canadian author of, most recently, Prized Possessions. Canadian Mountie Karl Alberg seems oblivious to the weird events occurring in his bailiwick on the British Columbia coast. The decidedly strange Gordon Murphy, in pursuit of Karl's girlfriend, Cassandra, proves willing to redecorate his mansion for a woman whose heart he has not won. Meanwhile, old-timer Reginald Dutton is convinced that the police department owes him rent and that his prized coin collection has been purloined. Reginald is often confused, but crime is rampant, despite the fact that mechanic Ronnie Plankton likes to break and enter more than he likes to steal. Ronnie also likes completely bald newcomer-to-town Naomi Hellyer, who's staying with a crusty woman cab driver whose wreck of a house has locals up in arms. Wright creates narrative tension with these disparate plot pieces and sympathetic eccentrics, but the narrative falters when, in an unconvincing turn of events, one of the cast goes psychotic. Aside from that, though, Karl's latest efforts to maintain tenuous control of his wayward townsfolk is an undeniable pleasure. Mystery Book Club alternate.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wright's novels about Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are never routine procedurals. Here, Alberg and his detachment tangle with (1) a rash of picketers protesting such injustices as cabdriver Winnifred Gartner's slovenly house and yard, Keith Hellyer's mistreatment of his estranged wife, Naomi, and the possibility that the Mounties owe crazy old Reginald Dutton 40 years' worth of rent; (2) a series of burglaries that have netted the perpetrator, among other treasures, a telescope, 50 cans of tomatoes, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (the thief also cleaned one particularly filthy kitchen); (3) the (drug-related?) killing of young Nathan Kijinski; and (4) the portended abduction of Alberg's live-in lover, librarian Cassandra Mitchell, by a determined suitor who seems to be using John Fowles's The Collector as a pillow book. Since it's Wright at the helm, plotlines crisscross in unexpectedly piquant ways: The thief falls in love with stressed-out Naomi, whose reluctant landlady, Winnifred, ends up taking her side with unexpected fervor against Keith, who has connections of his own to the other cases. None of these links have the scary inevitability of those in Alberg's last appearance (Prized Possessions, 1993), and Cassandra's ordeal, when push finally comes to shove, is oddly perfunctory. Delightfully offbeat as ever, though you keep suspecting Wright could reveal much more about each of her grotesques if she hadn't burdened herself with all the others. (Mystery Book Club alternate selection) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Wright is an outstanding writer who has been compared favorably with James and Rendell. Her stories are subtly crafted psychological studies that are intriguing, original, and full of depth; her characters--both the villains and the good guys--are fascinating studies in the quirks of human nature; and she manages to keep her readers mesmerized through a combination of masterly storytelling, nail-biting suspense, offbeat crimes, and heartwarming humor. Her latest Karl Alberg mystery features the adroit Canadian policeman in a case that involves a highly skilled burglar with a decidedly peculiar taste in loot, a frightening and bizarre psychopath who's determined to find the "perfect mate," and--perhaps best of all--the assorted idiosyncratic characters and the funny, sad, odd, and moving events that make up daily life in a small town. Alberg is at his usual cool, competent, and sometimes-puzzled-by-the-absurdities-of-life best, and the supporting cast members would all get Oscar nominations if this were a movie. The story, undoubtedly Wright's finest to date, has been chosen as an Alternate Selection of the Mystery Book Club. A must-have that's sure to delight a wide range of mystery fans. Emily Melton