Guilty Conscience

Uncharacteristically, Underwood ( Rosa's Dilemma ) delivers here a lifeless piece of crime fiction with a claustrophobic plot and a two-dimensional cast. In the London office of lawyer Rosa Epton, Evelyn Henshaw accuses her husband Ralph of murdering his first wife and suggests that he is now targetting her. When Rosa meets Ralph at the Henshaw's country house, he accuses Evelyn of killing his spouse so that she could marry him. But meanwhile, Evelyn has disappeared and the body of their lodger, Stefan, is pulled from the pond. Further evidence suggests a romantic link between the dead Stefan and missing Evelyn. Who should Rosa believe? Better yet, who should she take on as a client: a missing woman or a possible multiple murderer? Glossing over the legal technicalities of Rosa's case, Underwood instead focuses on his heroine's tedious romance with the jet-setting Peter Chen. Underwood scants the main characters in this frustrating work, taking his reader's attention for granted. (Nov.)