From Publishers Weekly
The veteran author of You Have the Right to Remain Silent and other mysteries features Detective Sergeant Marian Larch of the NYPD Ninth Precinct in an unconvincing police procedural. As the story begins, Marian is in crisis. Plagued by a two-faced superior and an incompetent partner, she is about to quit the force, but first she must lie to protect a remote, sarcastic FBI agent who killed a suspect he hated during a shootout. She has been sleeping with the agent since the shootout, solely to satisfy "sheer animal need." The mystery she must unravel involves a group of seemingly random items, including a jacket that once belonged to Sarah Bernhardt, that have been stolen from a Broadway theater currently hosting a play called The Apostrophe Thief . The hunt takes Marian into the oddball world of memorabilia collectors, and the murder of a prime suspect challenges her deductive powers, but the policework here is a lot less realistic than the backstage settings.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Veteran Paul's beleaguered detective Sergeant Marion Larch, of New York's Ninth Precinct (You Have the Right to Remain Silent, etc.) is fed up with her lazy, loutish partner Foley and with her devious, self-serving Captain di Falco. Meanwhile, circumstances bring Marion to the Midtown South precinct to look into a burglary at the Broadhurst theater, where her actress friend Kelly Ingram is starring in The Apostrophe Thief. An odd assortment of objects has been taken--from costumes to scripts--the most valuable of which is a bejeweled jacket once owned by Sarah Bernhardt. Marion finds herself clue hunting in the strange, constricted world of collectibles--among besotted fans and not-too-ethical dealers. One of them--Ernie Nordstrom--is found murdered when Marion finally catches up to him. She's convinced that thief and killer are the same, and that it's someone in the theater's production, cast or crew. Motive is the largest puzzle of all, but once Marion latches onto it, all is over--with satisfying prospects for our heroine's future. Steadily engrossing procedural--with interesting sidelights on police politics, backstage theater, and collecting lore. --
Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
