cover image The Deadliest Option

The Deadliest Option

Annette Meyers. Bantam Books, $18 (340pp) ISBN 978-0-553-07187-0

Wall Street headhunters and occasional sleuths Smith and Wetzon are back in this splendid, entertaining mystery, the third to feature Meyers's ( The Big Killing ) irrepressible female duo. Goldie Barnes, managing director of Luwisher Brothers, a top Wall Street firm, plans an announcement that will shock the entire financial community. Before he can make it, he pitches face-first onto a banquet table, dead. As other deaths follow, Smith and Wetzon begin their own investigation. With help from Wetzon's love interest, NYPD detective Silvestri, the pair make some startling--and potentially dangerous--discoveries. Meyers deftly weaves her knowledge of Wall Street's inner workings into the story at no expense to action or pace. Unexpected plot twists add to this thoroughly enjoyable tale. (Apr.)