A Death for a Dodo

Murder in a swank English nursing home provides a neat puzzle for London barrister and criminologist Robert Forsythe, who nearly becomes a victim himself in this, his 10th case (following A Death for a Dancing Doll ) . Convalescing from knee surgery in the Damien Day Health Home (known as DODO to the locals) near Hundarby, the temporarily crippled Forsythe is drawn into an oddly assorted group of well-known and powerful fellow patients. Much-married Kate Kapiche, the often malicious owner of the fabulously successful Hair Apparent salons; TV star Carolyn Chimes, whose late ex-husband killed himself over Kate; and painter Harry Oglethorpe had lived in cottages on the Oglethorpe estate 17 years ealier, when the Owen family, nearby farmers, was poisoned to death. When the only survivor, Gareth Owen, turns up as an orderly on the DODO staff, speculation about the unsolved mystery runs rampant. The subsequent murders of Oglethorpe and a nurse cast suspicion on the group of friends as well as Gareth, but it takes the isolation wrought by a major snowstorm to bring about the final, horrifying confrontation. Giroux's well-crafted page-turner has strong elements of suspense and careful characterization embedded in a classical setting. (Feb.)