In Remembrance of Rose

Meek's Hang the Consequences and The Split Second attracted praise and readers to her series hero, Lennox Kemp, a British lawyer. Performing as a detective again, Kemp vows to find the person who has killed elderly Rose Aumary, a client he valued as a friend. The police in their suburban town accuse Kevin Roding, the rambunctious young son of Rose's cleaning woman, and the case seems closed when Kevin is found murdered. As executor of Rose's considerable estate, Kemp continues his private investigation, interviewing her snobbish daughter Paula Warrender (so different from the kind, generous mother) and other family members and heirs, including the vicar's feckless sister Tullia Cavendish and her nephew Keith, a swain of Paula's daughter Lettice. Surprised to find Lettice much like her grandmother Rose, the lawyer confides his suspicions to her and, together, they search for clues that eventually solve this uncommonly engrossing mystery. (July 8)