Quick and the Dead: An Alex Quick Mystery

Alexandra Quick, a former detective inspector and the heroine of this disappointing series launch from British author Moody (A Final Reckoning), becomes an amateur sleuth only because her friend and business partner, art historian Helena Drummond, is missing and a murder suspect. When Helena fails to show up for an important meeting, Alex goes to Helena’s Canterbury home, where she discovers a brutalized body, later identified as that of Amy Morrison, a former student of Helena’s. Alex quickly discovers that she knew little about Helena or Amy, the author of a much-lauded biography of the painter Masaccio. In her search for answers, Alex turns for help to bookstore owner Sam Willoughby, who harbors dreams of becoming a private eye. Both Helena and Amy had several husbands, and Amy had a penchant for “borrowing” work done by others, so suspects and sources are plentiful. Moody does a good job creating sympathetic characters, but Alex bumbles her way to the unconvincing finale. (May)