A Way with Widows

In a voice rich with the nuances of the post-Prohibition rural Midwest, Adams's ( A Perfectly Proper Murder ) Carl Wilcox relates his investigation of the death of Aaron Feist. Found on Darlene Singer's stairs ``in a puddle of gore,'' Feist had been stabbed over 12 times. His wife Stella is the prime suspect: the butcher's knife used in the murder was hers, and she believed Feist was being overly attentive to the widow Singer. But Wilcox's sister Annabelle can't believe her friend Stella is guilty and convinces him (he was once a policeman in South Dakota) to look into the case. What he finds is a group of unlikely but possible suspects. They include Frenchy, the tenor-sax player who wanted to take over the dance band that Feist led, and Gene Fox, who co-owned and managed the clothing store founded by Feist's father and who hated paying half the profits to Feist, who did not work there. And there is Stella, who just might be guilty after all. But a second murder prompts Wilcox to search further for a motive. Rich in texture, spare in verbiage, Adams's latest mystery is a trim, satisfying delight. (Sept.)