EricCWelch

Audrey MacDonald is the power-hungry wife of a loathsome bank executive who wants to become president and CEO of the Polaris Bank. The current president, who is in the midst of negotiating a merger that would drastically alter the future plans of the other bank executives, is shot while on a hunting trip with many of those same executives. Lucas Davenport is asked to assist with the investigation. Certain peculiarities emerge that point to links between the Kresge killing and the ostensibly accidental deaths of several other bank executives that had occurred years earlier. Audrey’s husband, Wilson, who when drunk regularly beat her, was the only one who profited professionally from each of the deaths. He and Audrey are now trying to capitalize on Kresge’s death by attempting to manipulate the board into appointing him the new CEO. He is opposed by Jim Bone and Susan O’Dell, who also lust after the top job. Sandford’s descriptions of the back-biting and political machinations are brutal and priceless. An amusing side plot concerns a number of very well-connected old ladies who have been growing opium poppies for fun and now insist on being arrested for their flagrant violation of the law. Audrey soon realizes that, despite her best efforts, the investigation is beginning to focus on Wilson and, weak as he is, he will be unable to withstand the strain and will undoubtedly reveal the sordid truth behind the killings. She resolves to kill him, manipulating him into a situation that justifies her homicide. How she does this is truly cold and calculating. The investigation would have ended, had she left well enough alone, and not made the mistake of trying to distract Lucas – it had worked before – by creating several diversions. Specifically she assaults and firebombs two of his friends. Audrey is a librarian and hasn’t forgotten all those handy research skills to help choose her victims. The irrational and unlikely coincidental nature of these attacks leads Lucas’s team of investigators to discover the intricate pattern behind the murders that ultimately benefit only one person. You’ve really got to watch out for these librarians. . . .