Vintage Silver Age Mystery
Just the Facts Category: What — Reference to a man or woman in title
Cloak and Dagger Challenge #77
Date Finished: June 10, 2018

When Julie Steadman is killed in a hit-and-run accident in a small Virginia town, and her husband Gordon is found shot-to-death in an apparent suicide, their friend Todd Corwin comes to town undercover and with a chip on his shoulder to expose the cover-up and find the real killer. Clues lead immediately to the richest family in town, with an overbearing newspaper publisher father, a na’er-do-well son, a scheming and frisky stepmother, and a beautiful daughter. Violence happens and vengeance is sought.

An angry lead character makes some stories difficult to read, and this one doesn’t flow as nicely as other short mysteries of this era. The short length also prohibits much complexity, as the story is resolved through inadvertent action rather than through an intelligent plan. Not awful but not great.