Sidney Sheldon’s Angel of the Dark

At the start of Bagshawe’s intriguing third Sidney Sheldon­ homage (after 2010’s Sidney Sheldon’s After the Darkness), police answering a domestic violence call discover Andrew Jakes, an elderly art dealer, stabbed to death and nearly decapitated in his well-secured Beverly Hills mansion. His young wife, Angela, brutally raped and traumatized, is tied to his body. Lead detective Danny McGuire falls in love with the sensuous Angela, herself a suspect, and is totally mystified when the Jakes’ fortune of $400 million is left to charity and Angela disappears. With the case becoming cold, McGuire joins Interpol and is soon investigating international cases with eerie similarities to the L.A. murder: elderly moguls are found savagely stabbed to death, their young wives raped and tied to their bodies; the money is left to charity, then the wife vanishes. A hearty sensuality and wry humor propel this energetic story, which moves from one exotic locate to another as Maguire pursues a possible serial killer. Agent: Luke Janklow, Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Apr.)