Breach of Promise

Who would kill Zygmunt (Ziggy) Komarowski, a Polish ace in the RAF who for years has lived alone in a trailer on a farm in Upper Gorton in the English countryside? And what was the motive? The chess player and birdwatcher, a fighter for the environment and animal rights, was liked by almost everyone. His shotgunned body is discovered by his slight but stalwart neighbor, Enid Kingsley, 73, who lives with and takes care of her wheelchair-bound, horribly disfigured brother Jack, an RAF flier. The stolid, cheroot-smoking Inspector Roper soon learns that Enid, once an RAF ferry pilot, had a wartime romance with Ziggy but has sacrificed her happiness. Roper is distracted by a feud between farmers, stolen sheep, a stolen wife, and an arson, but concentrates on an ancient cricket bag containing an old tram ticket. Compact, well-written, clever--but series hero Roper ( A Fox in the Night ) lacks the irritable edge of a Holmes or a Dalgliesh. (Jan.)