Deadlock

Lieut. Gridley Nelson is in himself enough to make any book, whatever the murder-plot — and the Fenisong plots are usually better than average. Never better, however, than in DEADLOCK in which she brings off an extraordinary task of fully characterizing an odd benevolent-yet-evil victim and of lending full conviction to a dangerously tricky solution. All of the characters, indeed, are beautifully realized on every level of Manhattan — from cafe glitter to basement sordidness.