Dead Before Morning

From Library Journal This British author's mystery debut introduces Detective Joseph Rafferty, newly promoted, and his sidekick, the lugubrious and sententious Sergeant Llewellyn. Their first big case together, the mutilation murder of a young woman in an expensive mental hospital, tests both their ability and their compatibility: they risk unpleasant retribution from the clinic's ambitious, womanizing owner as well as scrutiny by press and superiors. Solid police procedure set in an isolated area but fraught with conflict. For most collections.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews The debut of marriage-phobic Detective Inspector Joseph Rafferty and his well-educated, lonely subordinate, Sergeant Llewellyn, who are called to the grounds of a posh private psychiatric hospital to survey the naked body of a young woman with her face bashed in. Who coshed her, and why? The philandering, social-climbing hospital-director, Dr. Melville-Briggs, his proud, do-gooder wife, his mistresses, and his staff all claim airtight alibis--which Rafferty and Llewellyn soon see right through, thanks to the smarmy hospital porter, the folks at the pub, and the tendency of major characters to spread malicious gossip about each other. Then a worried young woman named Miranda insists that she was meant to be the victim because of her firsthand knowledge of Melville-Briggs's drug-trafficking; Melville-Briggs himself dies in a suspicious car accident; and a diary with some heavy-duty S/M entries pops up before the villain is confronted--almost. Unpleasant people behaving in preposterous ways, with the author showing little insight into the medical profession or police procedure. A sequel, alas, is in the works. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.