Raggedy Man

When NYPD sergeant Ray Dixon nudges PI Gwenn Ramadge into hiring a suspended rookie detective for help in an investigation, the Brooklyn investigator, last seen in Lockout, is drawn into a bitter-but for readers, delicious-brew of murder and police corruption. Although young Narcotics cop Jayne Harrow has a drinking problem, she knows she was framed when busted for drugs and put on indefinite suspension. Jayne, whose complaints to higher-ups about her partner have won her only suggestions to transfer out (e.g., ``maybe something in Traffic''), welcomes the opportunity to help Gwenn run surveillance on a young au pair, whose employers suspect her of putting their child at risk. After Jayne is found-in Gwenn's rental car-dead of carbon-monoxide poisoning, the speedy police verdict of suicide sets Gwenn's antennae quivering. Poking around in Jayne's life, Gwenn discovers that the young woman had been pursuing her own lines of inquiry-lines that now put Gwenn in danger and make her wonder just how far she can trust her friend Ray. The prolific O'Donnell (Used to Kill) expertly brings together multiple plot lines in this satisfying, moving mystery. (June)