Kill and Kill Again: A Julian Quist Mystery Novel

An unconvincing plot and lackluster characters mar this Julian Quist mystery set in upstate Bridgetown, N.Y. When the body of Martha Best, secretary to the president of the Manchester Arms Corp. is discovered in the trunk of her yellow Mercedes, the police treat the homicide as the work of a deranged transient and after a few desultory inquiries, are ready to shelve the investigation. But Martha was the sister of Wally Best, a Bridgetown boy who has risen to rock stardom, and who is convinced that Martha was murdered by executives of the multinational armaments company. Martha had intimated to Wally that she knew something scandalous about a top member of the firm. Wally hires public relations man Quist ( Substitute Victim, etc.) to run his mayoral campaign, a ploy he feels will enable him to explore hidden documents and find his sister's killer. Quist is, as usual, clever, heroic and incorruptible, but his staff of anemic helpers and a host of thinly drawn townspeople do little to perk up this wan and hesitant mystery. (March)