Joey's Case

Like the characters in The Man Who Loved Slow Tomatoes and other of Constantine's novels, the citizens of Rocksburg, Pa., are recognizable human beings in his new story. And his gritty dialogue fairly zips off the page. Tough old ex-miner Albert Castelucci nags the town police chief, Mario Balzic, into checking on the killing of his son Joey. The grieving father believes the state police, in charge of the case, have bungled badly. When Balzic agrees to investigate unofficially, he hears that Francis Collins, the lover of Joey's estranged wife Rose, had fired the fatal shot to save his own life. Rosa's relatives, tenants in her building, support the claim that Joey was beating Collins before the gun went off. Balzic's suspicions of a murder conspiracy grow stronger but he can find no evidence, and, during Collins's trial, he bitterly contemplates the wide gap between justice and the law. Disclosures after the verdict is reached provide the climactic, stunning moment in the complex mystery. (April)