Intricacy, expertise, substance—all are here in this latest of Helen Nielsen’s absorbing mysteries.

“Homicide, by person or persons unknown,” was the judgment of the coroner’s jury—but for Jaime Dodson, brother of the murdered woman, the ordeal was just beginning. There was that crucial period that had begun when he stood over his sister, enraged, ready to strike. Only one course was open—to investigate for himself the events of the fatal evening, teasing the memory. His young wife, his friends watched in painful fascination; for two of them knew that already, under narcosis in the hospital, Jaime had confessed that he was the killer …