Mrs. Malory: Death of a Dean

As usual, the charm lies thick as 50-something widow Sheila Malory (Mrs. Malory Wonders Why, 1995, etc.) sheathes her guile in a shell of matronly pleasantry to nab a murderer. Sheila's childhood friend, actor David Beaumont, has fallen on hard times and must raise sufficient funds in order to stay in his Stratford cottage. His ancestral home, potentially his biggest asset, was willed to his old nanny until her death, after which it will be jointly owned by himself and his brother, Francis. The problem is that the old girl clings stubbornly to life. While David, with help from Sheila, is casting about for other types of financial rescue, the nanny conveniently falls down a flight of stairs and dies. At first relieved because he will be able to pay off his debts, David finds Francis, the Dean of Culminster, unwilling to sell in a depressed market. When the brother is poisoned and the police decide to look into the nanny's death a little more closely, David becomes a prime suspect. Believing in his innocence, Sheila uses the full power of her sympathetic, chatty nature to ferret out the murderer. Applying her characteristic deft touch in rendering contemporary English village life, Holt shows no signs of altering the formula that has made this series the very model of the modern mystery cozy. (Dec.)