When artist Stephen Morgan’s wife Emily dies in a fall from the balcony of his studio, the Tiverton Tribune immediately reports the event but their facts are so distorted and prejudiced that it appears they’re sentencing Stephen in the newspapers and not waiting for a trial. Detective Sloane Jamieson also believes Stephen is guilty but he’s going to prove it legally, so when the Morgan nanny quits, he convinces Dr. Catherine Malloy, assigned to his department,to go undercover. With falsified references, Catherine does so, and is soon embroiled in the Morgan family’s dramatic dynamics. Gradually, she finds herself coming to like the family involved in this case of murder, Stephen’s mother, Deirdre, his little daughter Stephanie, a child who is spoiled by her father but at the same time, crying out for love, and Stephen himself, who attracts her in ways she doesn’t want to ever feel again.
The more Catherine delves into the events surround the days before Emily’s death, the more it appears Stephen is guilty though she doesn’t want to believe that. Then, she discovers new evidence--Emily was having an affair--and an entirely new avenue of motives opens up. Now Catherine’s in a bind, for she’s begun to love Stephanie, letting her fill the void her own daughter’s death has made in her life while Stephen is beginning to make her want to love again. It doesn’t take long for Catherine to realize that Stephanie is the prize in this game of murder and what she now knows could result in death for both of them, leaving Stephanie helpless in the killer’s clutches...
MY OPINION: With a film-noirish quality about it, this is a neat little thriller for those who like their mysteries tightly-knit with good character studies. Even at the beginning, when the Tribune is lashing him in its headlines, Stephen is described in a manner to elicit sympathy and from the moment he appears for questioning at the police station, the reader will hope he isn’t going to turn out to be the killer. Catherine is also an equally sympathetic character because of her broken marriage and the loss of her daughter which haunts her. The character of Detective Jamieson has to grow on one a bit; he’s alternately good cop-bad cop and hard to pin down as likable or not. Even his interest in Stephen’s mother is suspect and his ethics questionable since he plans to court Deirdre even if he arrests her son for murder. I mean, really. Does the man think she’d even look at him if he does that? That’s one of the quirks to her characters that this writer does so well.
The suspense is good and the revelation of the murderer, first hinted at, then revealed, is dramatic enough, and one doesn’t feel the least bit sorry for him when he gets his just desserts.
A Structured Affair is available from Champagne Books,
This novel was supplied by the author and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.
