Rigor Mortis: An Edwina Crusoe Mystery

Millionaire Edwina Crusoe is a private nurse whose practice is limited to ``consultation.'' Her business card, she thinks, might just as well have read ``Professional Snoop--Medical/Health Matters Only.'' The formidable heroine is working at Chelsea Memorial Hospital in New Haven, Conn., when a third patient of nurse Jillian Nash dies. After the patient's niece accuses Jillian of murder, Jillian's father hires Edwina to investigate. Edwina's significant other, homicide detective Martin McIntyre, is skeptical about how successful her efforts may be, and Edwina herself begins to wonder if unsympathetic Jillian has acted with depraved indifference. On the other hand, Edwina's mother, glamorous romance novelist Harriet Crusoe, views the case in terms of plot potential and encourages further sleuthing. Edwina is stymied by a string of dead ends until she stumbles across a vital clue--letters sent to the bereaved families. Dosed with bracing observations about modern medicine, this second tale in the Edwina Crusoe series is altogether tantalizing. (Feb.)