Kill My Darling: A Bill Slider Mystery

In Harrod-Eagles’s well-plotted 14th mystery featuring London Det. Insp. Bill Slider (after 2011’s Body Line), suspicion falls on three men after the body of missing paleontologist Melanie Hunter turns up in a wooded area of Ruislip. According to all reports, Mel was a lovely girl, so it’s unclear why anyone would want to kill her. Slowly, the alibis of her live-in boyfriend, estate agent Scott Hibbert; her well-meaning but strict stepfather, Ian Wiseman; and her ex-con neighbor, Mr. Fitton, unravel, leaving Slider and his detectives with more questions than answers. The author imbues each of her detectives with a distinct personality, and evokes a real sense of urgency as the action moves deftly from suspect to suspect as well as from clue to clue, though the heavy use of British slang may distract some American readers. (Mar.)