Appointment in May: A Dave Garrett Mystery

PI Dave Garrett made an impressive debut in The January Corpse in 1991. His fifth calendar appearance is marked by the same strong characterization and plotting and offers a well-disguised twist. A disbarred lawyer now operating Garrett Investigations in Philadelphia, Dave takes on a domestic surveillance job in nearby Wayne. Lawyer Charles Preston hires him to follow Maria Winter, the estranged wife of Preston's client, Pat Winter. The latter's disability, which led to the personal injury/worker's compensation claim Preston is handling for him, has exacerbated domestic problems that caused Maria to leave him. Now Pat is insisting on knowing what his wife is up to and insisting that Preston take care of finding out. Aided by his sometime assistant, onetime lover Lisa Wilson, Garrett sets out to get the answer. The investigation unravels in a fatal explosion, a murder and the threat of more murders unless Garrett can uncover the motive driving the killer. In Albert's mysteries, even the minor characters create a strong impact: Ralph Torino, a perceptive gay man with AIDS, sees more clearly into Lisa and Dave's relationship than they do themselves; Virginia Evans, an obese agoraphobic, explains her bitter plight to Garrett. The May entry in this increasingly satisfying series will leave readers looking forward to June. (July)