Dead Heat

Early in Wilson’s unimpressive fourth whodunit featuring jockey Harry Radcliffe (after 2017’s Dead Reckoning), Radcliffe attends the funeral of John Dunston, a horsebox driver, in Yorkshire, where he’s handed a sealed envelope by Philip Caxton, Dunston’s solicitor. In the enclosed letter, Dunston, who apparently committed suicide by jumping into the sea, writes that he knew he was going to be murdered, and asks his friend for justice, adding that if Radcliffe decides to pursue the matter, some proof is in a package left with Caxton. No sooner does Radcliffe conceal the letter than he’s attacked in his home by two thugs demanding it. In a stretch, he retrieves the evidence package from the lawyer’s office without needing to show any form of identification. But before he can open it, his wife, Annabel, from whom he’s been separated for years, calls to report that she’s gotten an anonymous phone call threatening her new partner, who has just been paralyzed in a car accident. Wilson’s baffling choice to keep Radcliffe from examining Dunston’s evidence for over half the book dissipates interest in the original puzzle. Series fans will hope for better next time. Agent: David Grossman, David Grossman Literary (U.K.). (Apr.)