Cross My Heart and Hope to Die: An Inspector Quantrill Mystery

Radley's ( Death in the Morning ) latest engrossing English village mystery has a new twist: her redoubtable Chief Inspector Douglas Quantrill and capable Sergeant Hilary Lloyd work mainly at the tale's start and finish, their presence effectively framing the intriguing personal history of a rural postmistress/novelist. Quantrill and Lloyd investigate the disappearance of an elderly couple, Ziggy and Gladys Zrzecszczuksp ok, really , dubbed ``the Crackjaws'' by their neighbors in Byland, Suffolk. After years of regularly cashing pension checks and purchasing provisions, one day Ziggy fails to pick up his usual groceries. Postmistress Janet Thacker comes under suspicion when she insists that she cashed the checks as usual for Ziggy that day, though no one else remembers seeing him. Investigations center on the text of a novel penned by Thacker, the story of a life of disappointment and thwarted talent. But is the novel more than a fiction? Quantrill and Lloyd must find evidence to prove suspicions raised by their reading of a moving portrayal of village life that is anything but charming and cozy. Mystery Guild alternate. (July)