Gone to Her Death

Chief Inspector Lloyd, whose first name has yet to be revealed in this series, and Sergeant Judy Hill come together again to solve a rape and murder at the Sesquicentennial Ball of a second-rate English public school. Among the long list of suspects--the victim, wife of the school's deputy head, was a nymphomaniac who allegedly had had affairs with many of those at the dance--is Philip Newby, a teacher badly injured in an accident the year before and hopelessly in love with Caroline Knight, the young widow of another teacher killed in the same accident. A second suspect is acid-tongued painting master Sam Waters, who had been involved with the victim, although he too now desires Caroline. As alcoholic headmaster Barry Treadwell shakily presides over the disintegration of the school, head boy Matthew Causton surreptitiously observes everything. While working through a crisis in their love affair, Lloyd and Hill must avoid a number of false leads supplied by one of the suspects who is attempting to settle old grudges. McGown (Murder at the Old Vicarage ) has produced another top-notch police procedural with a pair of appealing romances thrown in for good measure. ( Feb. )